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The Cincinnati Bengals are signing offensive tackle Riley Reiff, as first reported by Jay Morrison of The Athletic.
The #Bengals have signed Riley Reiff, per source
— Jay Morrison (@JayMorrisonATH) March 19, 2021
Reiff has since confirmed the news, as well as that he’ll be playing right tackle in Cincinnati.
New offensive lineman Riley Reiff confirms that he will play right tackle for the #Bengals
— Marisa Contipelli (@BengalsMarisa) March 19, 2021
Entering his 10th season in 2021, Reiff has mainly played left tackle in his career, though he’s spent time at right tackle on occasion during his time with the Detroit Lions (2012-16) and Minnesota Vikings (2017-20).
This past season, the 32-year-old Reiff recorded a 71.4 PFF grade while playing 15 games at left tackle. Given his age, he was never going to get a major long-term deal this offseason, making it easy for a team like the Bengals to sign him while not risking their future.
Even with Reiff, this move shouldn’t take the Bengals out of the running for an offensive lineman in Round 1 of the 2021 NFL Draft. The Bengals wills still hopefully land Oregon Ducks tackle Penei Sewell with the fifth-overall pick, but it’s still great to have a guy like Reiff man one of the tackle spots next season along with Jonah Williams, allowing Sewell time to sit and develop, especially since he hasn’t played football since 2019 after opting out of the 2020 season.
Plus, there’s always a chance the Bengals could move Sewell to guard while he develops or even put Reiff there at some point. Reiff actually started seven games at guard in college as a redshirt freshman with the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Back in August of 2020, Reiff admitted he was willing to play guard if it helped the team win, so he’s clearly not opposed to it.
“Heck, I’ll play whatever as long as it helps the team,” Reiff told the Star Tribune.
For now, Reiff will be penciled in as the Bengals’ starting right tackle, and the incumbent Bobby Hart will likely be released soon.
Here are some brief highlights of Reiff in action with the Vikings.
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