In terms of long-term goals for the Vikings, it doesn’t make a ton of sense to have had Riley Reiff play vs. the Lions in Week 17.
Both Minnesota and Detroit were eliminated from playoff contention already. Reiff was on the reserve/COVID-19 list this week as well. He’s a veteran, so it’s not like the Vikings have to develop him, either.
Reiff was not removed from the reserve/COVID-19 list before the game. The Vikings still won without their veteran left tackle. So how does that affect Reiff? Well, he lost $1 million in bonus money, due to the way his contract is structured.
There is a bonus he can receive that’s related to his snap count. Prior to this game, Reiff had played 100% of the offensive snaps for the team for a total of 1002. Reiff needed to end the year with having played 93.75% or more of the team’s offensive snaps in order to get a $1 million bonus.
With Reiff not playing in the game, he needed Minnesota to have 66 offensive snaps or less in order to collect the bonus. The Vikings ended up running 80 offensive plays, dropping Reiff’s season snap count total below the necessary amount.
It’s not all bad, though. Reiff still picked up a $1 million bonus for playing 86% of the Vikings’ snaps. They could also still give him the additional money, but with the way his contract is structured at the moment, Reiff just got a tough break at the end of the year.
