Reiff Released

I think the Vikings wanted to keep Reiff but Reiff realized his worth in today's market and didn't want to extend his deal. I've never been a Reiff fan but that doesn't mean we might not be worse in September at that spot without him. 

So this move frees up almost $12 mill on the cap then?

@"PurpleCrush" said: https://twitter.com/christomasson/status/1369785188717314048

@"Vanguard83" said: why do I have the feeling we are clearing money for a “splash” trade?

The offense "saved" this team last year - if you're glad they clawed their way from 5-11 to 7-9. That might have saved Zimmer's job. So, now he'll take the offense for granted. Rudolph won't be there, and his catches may have decreased but he blocked far better than Smith or Conklin, and by reputation alone he had coverage attention. Now Reiff is gone, so the most important position on the OL lost the most consistent player. Maybe he can be replaced by O'Neill or Cleveland, but will they play as well immediately? And then their former position becomes another "maybe", and LG remains a sucking wound.

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"PurpleCrush" said: https://twitter.com/christomasson/status/1369785188717314048

Wasn't that tried and proven wrong?  Reiff was a decent LT for Detroit,  they moved him to the right side when they got another LT and Reiff didn't look so hot,   he came to minny and played the left spot better than any have in 20 years (including guys coached by tice),   where does Tice think he would somehow be better on the right?

Not saying that I'm happy with this move, but Reiff is 32 & it's better to release a player a year too early rather than keeping him a year too late.

This might have made sense IF the Vikings had decided around week 12 that 2020 was a "mini rebuild" year and started trying out some alternatives. Slide O'Neill to LT for a while, and/or Cleveland for a few games. Give Udoh four starts at RT. Maybe even put Hinton into a couple games, or, hell, throw Samia back into the mix and see if he could work out his issues on the field - he could have a future here, while Dozier does not.

Then you release Reiff with some data on what the line should look like in 2021. As it is, we don't know if anyone else can play LT, and any rookie is a gamble.

"Bonus" - they could have rested some other starters, rather than risking Cousins or Cook. Jake Browning could have thrown a pass in the NFL to see if he can backup Cousins, Mike Boone could have had more reps. And if we drop the meaningless "win" at Detroit the last week, and turn one of those skin-of-the-teeth victories over Carolina or Jacksonville into a loss, this team would be picking 7th or 8th. In that position, they might actually have a shot at picking Christian Darrisaw if it turns out they need him. Or does anyone really think if he is an automatic NFL starter at LT he is going to slide to 19 or so?

Week 12 we were still competing for a playoff spot.

@"BarrNone55" said: Week 12 we were still competing for a playoff spot.

@"Jor-El" said:

@"BarrNone55" said: Week 12 we were still competing for a playoff spot.

I forgot, we were a 4-6 powerhouse that could have charged into another wildcard loss.

OK, Barr, which side of your mouth are you talking out of today? Because I regularly get at least two from you and the gang:

1. This team lost Pierce, Hunter, Barr, had lost Griffen and Joseph in the offseason, so the front 7 was terrible, we had no pass rush, and they sent 3 CBs packing and didn't have OTCs and preseason to train them, so 2020 was obviously doomed, and it was a coaching miracle to get this depleted squad to 7-9!!

OR 

2. We were on the verge of the playoffs and could have got in and contended in 2020!

So which is it? Because if we had a squad able to make a playoff run, how did our coaches screw the pooch? Or if getting to 7-9 (by beating a Lions squad that was more interested in improving their draft position) was the best possible season record given the depletion of this team, why didn't this team commit to using 2020 to test players needed for the future?

And you know perfectly well there are ways to insert young players into the lineup and experiment without "telling the locker room we are done". What message did they all get from the desperation trade of Ngakoue, anyway??

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"comet52" said: Amazed they actually made a smart move for a change.

I don't know how "smart" it is to take the best offensive lineman off a team with offensive line problems. But the Vikings obviously feel good about their other options there and want some money to improve the defense. 

Keeping Reiff was their plan. He wasn't going to extend his deal after all the half-decent OTs got the tag. Changed the market entirely. 

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"comet52" said: Amazed they actually made a smart move for a change.

I don't know how "smart" it is to take the best offensive lineman off a team with offensive line problems. But the Vikings obviously feel good about their other options there and want some money to improve the defense. 

Keeping Reiff was their plan. He wasn't going to extend his deal after all the half-decent OTs got the tag. Changed the market entirely. 

Right, but let's not pretend they couldn't have kept Reiff if they really wanted to. They just didn't want to enough to pay him his 2021 salary. Regardless of what other OT's were getting, if they wanted to keep him bad enough, they could have paid his well-below-market salary. 

That's what I'm saying. The Vikings made a cost/benefit decision. Do we want to keep Reiff? Yes. Do we want to keep him badly enough to pay him $12M when we have holes on defense and other feasible options for LT? Clearly not enough. 

Not my favorite plan if the goal is to win in 2021.  I think our 2021 ambitions are going to hinge
on us improving our offense to top 3 and getting out defense to be good enough,
as I don’t think we’re going to return to having a top defense this year.  I don’t think there is room for our offense
to regressing and still advancing beyond an early playoff exit.  I just don’t have a lot of faith in our front
office to fill multiple OLine holes in one year.  I think there is just too strong of a track
record of being dismissive towards quality guard play.  I get very strong vibes that are similar to “anyone
can play guard, so why invest in it?” every offseason.  I just don’t see any real reason, beyond just
hope, to anticipate that our OLine is going to be any better than any of the
lines we trotted out there in the last decade, and there’s real risk that we
might downgrade if Cleveland doesn’t improve.

Those two things aren't mutually exclusive @Jor-El. You do recall that we were in the playoff hunt, correct? And our D was decimated due to injuries and FA, right?

I often wonder if many of you live in an alternate reality.

@"BarrNone55" said:

@"Jor-El" said:

@"BarrNone55" said: Week 12 we were still competing for a playoff spot.

I forgot, we were a 4-6 powerhouse that could have charged into another wildcard loss.

Better, let's tell the locker room we are done competing. Brilliant! 

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"comet52" said: Amazed they actually made a smart move for a change.

I don't know how "smart" it is to take the best offensive lineman off a team with offensive line problems. But the Vikings obviously feel good about their other options there and want some money to improve the defense. 

Keeping Reiff was their plan. He wasn't going to extend his deal after all the half-decent OTs got the tag. Changed the market entirely. 

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"BarrNone55" said:

@"Jor-El" said:

@"BarrNone55" said: Week 12 we were still competing for a playoff spot.

I forgot, we were a 4-6 powerhouse that could have charged into another wildcard loss.

Better, let's tell the locker room we are done competing. Brilliant! 

Didn't they kind of make that apparent when they traded away Ngokue?

@"purplefaithful" said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"comet52" said: Amazed they actually made a smart move for a change.

I don't know how "smart" it is to take the best offensive lineman off a team with offensive line problems. But the Vikings obviously feel good about their other options there and want some money to improve the defense. 

Keeping Reiff was their plan. He wasn't going to extend his deal after all the half-decent OTs got the tag. Changed the market entirely. 

Not surprised this was their Plan A...Losing him creates far more questions than provides answers. 

I dont like the move, but can see both sides when the market shifted. Just wish it wasn't LT. This OL had enough trouble in pass pro with him there. 

Maybe I'll feel better about it after seeing FA moves...Nah, probably not. I'm not convinced Cleveland can move outside and I dont want to move O'Neil over. 

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"purplefaithful" said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"comet52" said: Amazed they actually made a smart move for a change.

I don't know how "smart" it is to take the best offensive lineman off a team with offensive line problems. But the Vikings obviously feel good about their other options there and want some money to improve the defense. 

Keeping Reiff was their plan. He wasn't going to extend his deal after all the half-decent OTs got the tag. Changed the market entirely. 

Not surprised this was their Plan A...Losing him creates far more questions than provides answers. 

I dont like the move, but can see both sides when the market shifted. Just wish it wasn't LT. This OL had enough trouble in pass pro with him there. 

Maybe I'll feel better about it after seeing FA moves...Nah, probably not. I'm not convinced Cleveland can move outside and I dont want to move O'Neil over. 

I'd agree its better to see it play out before making up your mind on whether it was good or bad. Truthfully I think Cleveland still makes a better OT than guard but obviously we don't know until we see him on the outside. At Boise he's just so natural working on the outside to the point I was more surprised how well he played at right guard. But still that still leaves you two gaping holes on the interior of the line, which already was awful. They like Kyle Hinton A LOT, someone mentioned it as a bold prediction is starts I believe, good prediction. Although you still won't count on him day 1. Good news is if you play the supply/demand of the market there are going to be some half decent guards that have trouble finding money next week. 

@"BarrNone55" said: Those two things aren't mutually exclusive @Jor-El. You do recall that we were in the playoff hunt, correct? And our D was decimated due to injuries and FA, right?

I often wonder if many of you live in an alternate reality.