Riley Reiff reportedly was saying his goodbyes to Vikings teammates on Monday because he wasn’t going to accept a restructured contract from the team for 2020. On Tuesday, the left tackle changed his mind.
The Vikings were finalizing a restructured contract with Reiff, according to reports, including the one below from Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. That will enable the Vikings to create room under the salary cap after they traded with Jacksonville for Yannick Ngakoue and came to an agreement on a one-year, $12 million contract with the defensive end.

The #Vikings are finalizing a restructured contract with left tackle Riley Reiff, sources tell me and @RapSheet. One day after Reiff was offered a pay cut and said goodbye to teammates, he’s back and the O-line stays intact.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 1, 2020

That move left the Vikings with approximately $500,000 under the cap and looking for somewhere to cut. Reiff taking a lesser deal — he was scheduled to make a base salary of $10.9 million this season — will free up more room for the team. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported that Reiff’s agent made calls to check on potential trades before his client agreed to the reduced salary.
Reiff staying with the Vikings keeps continuity on the offensive line. That’s important considering the season is only two weeks away. If Reiff had decided to turn down the Vikings offer and was released, it was expected right tackle Brian O’Neill would have moved to the left side and backup Rashod Hill would have taken over at right tackle.