Vikings Surprisingly Release OL Josh Kline and Barely Save Anything in Cap Space
By Michael Luciano
The Minnesota Vikings, who had some of the worst offensive lines in the league over the last few years, finally fixed that issue in 2019 thanks to players like starting guard Josh Kline.
Bizarrely, Kline's excellent performance last season was not enough to keep him on the roster in 2020, as Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman decided to release him just one year into his three-year contract.
The #Vikings release G Josh Kline, which is a bit of a surprise.
— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) March 18, 2020
After playing with the New England Patriots for three seasons, the former UDFA out of Kent State signed a deal with the Tennessee Titans, where he started 46 games in three seasons under Mike Mularkey and Mike Vrabel. After signing a three-year deal in Minnesota, Kline established himself as the team's starting right guard, earning above-average grades from Pro Football Focus while starting 13 games.
Due to the fact Kline's contract forced the Vikings to take on around $4.6 million in dead cap this season, the Vikings won't even save a ton of money with this move, which makes this even more puzzling.
#Vikings have dumped their starting right guard Josh Kline from last season. Not a lot of cap savings. They get savings of $1.569 million and incur dead money of $4.466 million.
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) March 18, 2020
Kline will assuredly be starting somewhere else next season, and Minnesota's decision to cut a guard of his caliber could come back to bite them sooner than you'd think.