One of the biggest focuses for the Cincinnati Bengals this offseason was upgrading the offensive line, which was putrid a season ago. One player brought in to help to stop the bleeding along the o-line was former Lions and Vikings left tackle, Riley Reiff, who will play right tackle for the Bengals.
Reiff signed a one-year deal worth $7.5 million and this is the best contract in the Bengals’ organization, according to Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus. Spielberger wrote:
"Reiff has been a model of consistency throughout his NFL career, with an admittedly limited ceiling but a respectably high floor as a blindside protector. He’s graded out at 69.0 or better in all but one of his nine NFL seasons, earning 60.0-plus marks in both pass blocking and run blocking every season except for a 59.8 run-blocking mark in 2017."
It was surprising when the Vikings decided to part ways with Reiff but the Bengals gladly scooped him up and hope that he can be a helpful addition to an offensive line that needs a tremendous boost.
The Bengals landed a nice deal with Riley Reiff over the offseason.
By signing a one-year deal, there’s a strong incentive for Reiff to play well in his first year with the Bengals, as a good season can land him another nice deal elsewhere. He’s been a left tackle throughout most of his career but he’ll be manning the right side of the Bengals’ o-line due to Jonah Williams serving as the left tackle.
As Spielberger noted in the blurb above, Reiff has shown a great deal of consistency during his time in the league, appearing in double-digit games in every single one of his nine previous seasons.
The Bengals got Reiff on a “prove it” deal and while he’ll be playing a new position in 2021, the contract looks to be a good one, even before the season has gotten underway. Even if Reiff isn’t his normal self on the right side of the line, not many people are going to complain about the Bengals trying to bring in a productive tackle on a cheap deal.