Former Vikings Tackle Riley Reiff Signs One-Year Deal With Cincinnati Bengals
Former Vikings left tackle Riley Reiff signed a one-year deal with the Cincinnati Bengals on Friday. The 32-year-old veteran gets $5.5 million guaranteed on a contract that could be worth up to $7.5 million in 2021.
After spending the last four seasons as Minnesota's left tackle, Reiff will move to the right side for the Bengals. He's a key free agent pickup for Cincinnati as it looks to piece together a strong offensive line in front of second-year quarterback Joe Burrow, the 2020 No. 1 overall pick who is coming off a torn ACL.
Reiff was released by the Vikings earlier this month for salary cap reasons.
A first-round pick by the Lions out of Iowa in 2012, Reiff spent five seasons in Detroit before signing with the Vikings. He played right tackle for the Lions in 2016, so he has some experience there. He has made 127 regular season starts in his nine-year career.
Reiff had one of the best seasons of his career in 2020. In 567 pass-blocking snaps, he allowed career-lows in sacks (1) and pressures (21) while committing just one penalty all year. He was a very reliable presence at left tackle and a valuable leader in the locker room.
However, the Vikings saved over $11 million in cap space by releasing Reiff — money that went towards their additions of key defensive free agents Dalvin Tomlinson and Patrick Peterson.
The Vikings have several options to replace Reiff at left tackle in 2020, including Ezra Cleveland, Brian O'Neill, and Rashod Hill. But they have a lot of work left to be done in adding to their offensive line.
Per Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press, Minnesota is one of the teams being considered by free agent guard Forrest Lamp, who started 16 games for the Chargers last year and was a second-round pick in 2017.
Reiff becomes the fourth former Viking to sign with a new team in free agency, joining Mike Boone (Broncos), Ifeadi Odenigbo (Giants), and Kyle Rudolph (Giants).
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