Riley Reiff Gets The Last Laugh
K. Joudry
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Folks, we’re a long way from being embarrassed about losing to the Bengals in Week 1. At the time, many of us expected the Vikings to make noise in the playoffs; even more expected the Bengals to be lousy. How wrong we were. One wonders what Riley Reiff thinks of the situation.
Reiff was in Minnesota for four seasons as the team’s left tackle, providing steady, unspectacular play. For the Vikings’ OL, steady and unspectacular can be incredible. Despite this play, the Vikings decided to move on from Reiff last offseason.
Unfortunately, Riley Reiff has been unavailable to the Bengals due to an ankle injury. Nevertheless, it’s notable that he chose the team that would represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. The vet may therefore get a ring before the Vikings franchise gets its first Super Bowl.
Don’t forget that toward the end of his time in Minnesota, Reiff had to accept some really tough financial decisions. The Vikings were looking for extra cap space heading into the 2020 season. They basically forced Reiff into reducing his salary since it occurred so late. SI‘s Will Ragatz offers a recap: “Now we know the exact details of that pay cut. Reiff’s base salary for 2020 has been nearly cut in half, going from $11 million to $6 million, as first reported by Ian Rapaport on Thursday.”
$11 million was too much for Reiff at that point, and yet it’s hard not to feel bad for him. The Vikings put him in a no-win scenario since it was so close to the beginning of the season.
Following the 2020 season, Reiff was cut by the Vikings, a predictable move given his age and the team’s salary cap. He thus chose to accept a deal in Cincinnati for a relatively modest $7.5 million.
It’s this background that leads toward my curiosity about how Reiff feels right now. He was forced out of Minnesota and then chose to play for the Bengals. His team is now heading to the SB while Minnesota is completely rebuilding their leadership because of another brutal year.
There’s a pretty good case to be made that Riley Reiff got the last laugh.
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