The Bengals entered free agency with glaring holes along the offensive line, but they spent the past couple of days bolstering their defense. They may now be shifting gears, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports that former Vikings left tackle Riley Reiff will take a visit with Cincinnati (Twitter link).
Reiff, who was released by Minnesota last week, has never made a Pro Bowl or All-Pro team, but he has been a mostly solid starter since he entered the league as a first-round pick of the Lions in 2012. There was some chatter in recent seasons that he could be shifted inside to guard, but that never materialized.
The Bengals, though, have Jonah Williams penciled in at LT. So if Reiff signs with Cincinnati, he could end up at right tackle or, theoretically, at one of the guard positions.
We heard back in January that the Bengals could spend big on the O-line this offseason, which would be a major departure from their standard operating procedure. But it makes sense, as the club needs to protect quarterback Joe Burrow at all costs, a point that was driven home in brutal fashion when Burrow suffered a torn ACL and MCL in Week 11 of the 2020 season. Reiff might not be a world beater, but he is a major upgrade over what the Bengals trotted out last year, and if the club can sign him and acquire another quality blocker or two in the draft and/or free agency, Burrow will surely be a happy man.
The young signal-caller would also be delighted if the team adds another top-flight receiver to his cadre of weapons. The Bengals have an offer out to WR Kenny Golladay, who, along with Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins, would create a rather fearsome trio of pass catchers..
As a Vikings fan this feels wrong. I like the other work they have done with cap space they freed up by cutting Reiff but that O-line has some huge holes yet to fill and there is a great deal of risk involved with trusting even a very talented rookies to fill them. I hope we didn’t just slow down our very productive offense from last season by letting this guy go.
It seems like several Viking players are losing confidence in the Vikings management lately and are ready to move on. Team morale suffered when Diggs was traded. Then Stefanski left for the Browns. Now all the players have to look forward to are the constant requests for pay cuts. Not a good situation in Minnesota right now.
Rieff was overpaid for his ability in my opinion. If a team wants to improve their OL I wouldn’t be looking at Vikings cast offs…Vikes Oline has been weak for years. But I guess the Bungles Oline was even worse….who knows.