Vikings might make a big move to replace Riley Reiff
After cutting Riley Reiff, the Minnesota Vikings are eyeing a major move to replace him.
The Minnesota Vikings have been doing some work to get under the lowered salary cap. The biggest move to this point came on Wednesday, with the decision to cut left tackle Riley Reiff and clear over $11 million in cap space.
The Vikings have some options to replace Reiff at left tackle, even if it feels like a void they didn’t have to create. The internal options are Brian O’Neill or Ezra Cleveland. O’Neill would move over from right tackle. Cleveland started games at right guard last year as a rookie, but he was a tackle in college and he could either move out to right tackle or move across the line to replace Reiff.
Free agency doesn’t seem to have many realistic options for the Vikings to replace Reiff. Using their first-round pick (No. 14 overall) on an offensive tackle is now firmly on the radar.
The Vikings are eyeing a trade for a left tackle
According to Darren Wolfson of KSTP and SKOR North, the Vikings have had dialogue with Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr.
https://twitter.com/SKORNorth/status/1370053489179684866?s=20
Brown filled in for an injured Ronnie Stanley at left tackle for Baltimore last season. But the investment the Ravens have made in Stanley means he’s the left tackle when he’s healthy, with Brown going back to right tackle. With Brown declaring on Twitter that he’s a left tackle, the plot has continually thickened. He has asked for a trade, and his agent is exploring options.
Based on Orlando Brown's Tweet, the Ravens top $ deal with LT Ronnie Stanley and what I am hearing from sources, Brown is stuck in, is only interested in playing LT and his days in BAL likely numbered. Trade may be only solution
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) January 29, 2021
Sources: #Ravens OT Orlando Brown wants to be traded. After tweeting his desire to only play left tackle – he filled in there for Ronnie Stanley and shined this season – Brown will only play for a team that will play him at his preferred spot. Baltimore would need a major haul.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 10, 2021
Orlando Brown's representatives have begun exploring trade possibilities for a player eyeing a full-time role at left tackle, per source. The Ravens are aware of those plans. Plenty of teams will be in the market for left tackle help in coming weeks and months.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) February 25, 2021
Brown, a third-round pick in 2018 (and a steal, in hindsight) is entering the final year of his rookie contract. Trading for him would come with the idea of a contract extension to keep him long-term, especially in light of what it will take to get him.
From Brown’s end, a contract extension from the team he’s traded to would be a practical prerequisite. As his agent surveys options, talk of an extension have surely been intertwined in the conversations.
Brown is still only going to turn 25 in May, so he’s got plenty of good years left and he’s a two-time Pro Bowler. The trade market for him will be competitive, but the Vikings have to be prominently in the mix now. The question is what they’ll offer, and if the Ravens will look twice at it among other offers they get.
Next. 3 teams who should try to trade for N'Keal Harry. dark