It’s not often that one of the week’s loudest and most frequently cited headlines involves the release of a punter.

But when the Minnesota Vikings dropped Chris Kluwe earlier this week, it ensured that during this relatively news less post-draft time, that a special teamer would be in the headlines for awhile.

Kluwe spent eight years in Minnesota, being best known alternatively between booming punts and a booming voice in favor of allowing gay people to get married. He’s largely been very good at both. His political involvement has garnered national attention and earned him Salon’s Sexiest Man of the Year Award.

He has never been to a Pro Bowl, but he’s generally been seen as one of the best punters in Vikings history. So yes, his release garnered some attention.

But the Vikings, in some quarters, are being skewered by those who believe his release means the team is cracking down on free speech and standing up against the support of gay marriage.

Kluwe is entitled to his opinion, whether I agree with it or not. To me, the bigger issue with Kluwe is how he expresses said opinion. I thought he was a bit obnoxious in the profanity-laced rant in Deadspin where he first got national attention for his views. In subsequent articles and interviews, both on gay marriage and other issues, he was much more reasoned. When he takes a more thoughtful, intellectual approach to making his argument, you can tell he is a really intelligent, albeit perhaps sometimes polarizing, guy. He acknowledges and embraces that and he is right when he says there are issues facing society that are much more important than kicking a football.

That said, I think the degree to which the press and the public are linking his release to his political statements is getting overblown. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not foolish enough to think that his outspoken stance in favor of gay marriage had nothing to do with his release from the Vikings. But I suspect the conversation between General Manager Rick Spielman, Coach Leslie Frazier and Mike Priefer, special teams coach wasn’t “This guy is outspoken on controversial political issues, we must get rid of him.”

I suspect it went more like: “Kluwe’s performance declined last year. He was inconsistent. He’s 31. He’s due to make about $1.5 million this season. And the political issues he’s outspoken about may be taking his focus away from the game. I think we can replace him with someone younger and cheaper.”

And they’re right–his performance last year was not very good. In the article above where Les Carpenter skewers the Vikings, he points out that Kluwe had a career best 39.7 yard net punting average, and dropped 25% of his punts inside the 20. He doesn’t bother to point out that 39.7 yard net average was 17th best in the league. Dropping 25% of his punts inside the 20 ranks him 31st in the league. He was 30th in touchbacks (2), 22nd in overall average (45.0 yards), and 27th in fair catches (12). The only areas he seemed to rank well in were blocked punts (tied for first with a bunch of guys with zero), and number of punts returned (41, 6th overall).

He’s had two seasons of ranking in the top 10 for overall average (6th in 2005 at 44.1, 8th in 2007 at 44.7), and his best year for distance (2011, 45.7 yards) ranked 13th. Basically, he’s just not that great of a punter.

To take it a step further, if Kluwe was not doubling as political activist and he had been released following the selection of a rookie in the draft, the news likely would have shown up on page eight of the sports section in the list of daily transactions right between the high school sports scores and the Las Vegas odds for the weekend.

These types of transactions happen in the NFL all the time. It’s a young man’s game in an era where salary cap space is both tight and coveted. Shoot, the Vikings did the same thing last year to Ryan Longwell, who was 37 and coming off an up-and-down season. They drafted Blair Walsh in the sixth round, brought him to the first rookie camp to make sure he wouldn’t wilt under the pressure, and then proceeded to cut Longwell the next week. Longwell was not particularly outspoken on any major issues other than his friendship with Brett Favre and his love of golf.

I think it’s very likely the Vikings would have been looking at a move like this even if Kluwe was as anonymous as most punters. Incoming UCLA rookie Jeff Locke comes with an impressive resume. He booms punts. He’s accurate in close. He can kick off (though Blair Walsh reportedly will keep that job). He was the Pac 10’s best punter in 2012. And, as mentioned earlier, he’s cheaper than Kluwe, which means the Vikes will have another $1 million or so with which they can sign draft choices and fill other holes.

Yes, Kluwe was outspoken and yes, it probably did play some role in ensuring he is no longer with the team. But he’ll find another job. And if he doesn’t, he’s put himself in a position where he’ll be embraced by some organization for his well-spoken, articulate ability to espouse his opinions.

And when the Vikings deny that politics was the reason Kluwe was released and insist there were other reasons for the move they aren’t being completely untruthful either. These moves happen in less publicized fashion all the time.