The New York Giants added a big piece to their tight end room with the signing of Kyle Rudolph last week on a two-year deal that could be worth $14 million.

The 10-year veteran and two-time Pro Bowler had been released by the Minnesota Vikings two weeks before the March 17th free agency window and was fielding offers from around the league when a phone conversation with Giants’ head coach Joe Judge sold him on joining Big Blue.

“One of the lines he said that really resonated with me was, ‘overachievers aren’t OK with mediocrity. I want to surround myself with a bunch of overachievers,'” Rudolph said in an interview on Sirius XM NFL radio on Monday. “I’ve  always looked at myself as someone that tries to work harder than the next guy and be an overachiever and that really resonated with me and that’s something I want to be a part of.

“[Judge] said ‘Listen, we’re all about football and we’re going to work hard, we’re going to do things the hard way, we’re going to build things the right way, so it lasts.’ And that’s something I want to be a part of.”

Rudolph finally gives the Giants’ offense a traditional in-line tight end that can both block and catch the football. He is especially effective in the red zone. The Giants were 31st in the NFL in scoring in 2020 (17.4 points per game).

Rudolph’s production in the passing game fell off the past two seasons but there are reasons for that. The Vikings were feeding the ball to their younger stars such as running back Dalvin Cook and wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, all Pro Bowl players on the rise.

By admission, Rudolph said in the interview that he honed his other football skills, stepping aside for the young studs in the passing game. He assured Giant fans that they are getting a full-service player in him.

“Giants fans are going to be getting someone that can help Saquon [Barkley] and that can help in the run game and that can also help protect Daniel [Jones] in certain situations,” Rudolph added, via NJ Advance Media. “But you’re [also] going to get someone who, I always try to be extremely reliable in the pass game. When my number is called, when the quarterback has the trust in me to throw me the football, I’m going to execute and make sure I catch the ball. Whether that be moving the chains on third down, a big play on first down or scoring touchdowns in the red zone. That’s what I prided myself on the last 10 years to be able to bring to an offense.”

The addition of Rudolph and wide receivers Kenny Golladay and John Ross along with the return of running back Saquon Barkley from injury should help third-year quarterback Daniel Jones reach his potential.

The general thinking here is that Giants’ offensive coordinator Jason Garrett will use Rudolph in much the same way he used future Hall of Famer Jason Witten in Dallas. And Giant fans know first hand how effective he was.