Patriots top offensive line offseason acquisition out for year
This past offseason, the New England Patriots’ biggest investment at the tackle position was signing 35-year-old Riley Reiff. Now, after appearing in just one game this season, Reiff is expected to be out for the rest of the year.
Wednesday was the final day for the Patriots to active Reiff off IR, after designating him to return three weeks ago. During his Wednesday press conference, head coach Bill Belichick told reporters Reiff wouldn’t be activated by the deadline. That means Reiff will now revert to IR and be ineligible to play for the remainder of the season.
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Reiff looked to be in contention for the starting right tackle job in training camp, but struggled and was moved inside to guard. He had success there, before suffering a knee injury in the preseason finale and being placed on IR.
The Patriots first activated Reiff in early October, and he made his season debut in Week 5 when he played 45 snaps between left guard and right guard. However, he suffered a second, unrelated knee injury in that game that landed him on IR for the second time. According to Belichick, Reiff had multiple setbacks while trying to recover from that injury, leading to the team not activating him for a second time.
Without Reiff, the Patriots still have Trent Brown, Mike Onwenu, Conor McDermott, and Vederian Lowe as their tackles on the active roster. Sidy Sow, Cole Strange, and Atonio Mafi make up the group at guard.
Reiff’s contract with the Patriots is a one-year, $5 million deal. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
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