Bears create cap-friendly contract for Riley Reiff originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Bears' front office struck gold with the offensive line this week.
First, they signed guard Michael Schofield to a veteran's minimum deal, despite ranking 20th overall in PFF grades last season amongst all offensive lineman. His base salary and cap hit are around $1.2 million and none of his money is guaranteed.
Then, the team signed Riley Reiff, an offensive tackle from the Cincinnati Bengals to a lucrative one-year, $12.5 million deal.
The contract turned some heads. Reiff is 33 years old and was one of the lower-graded lineman on the Bengals' offensive line last season. The value of his deal seemed counterintuitive to the Bears' strategy of signing short-term, minimum value deals until they bridge the gap to next offseason.
While on the surface, the deal seemed contradictory to Ryan Poles' plan -- it's not. Reiff's base salary is just $3 million. According to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, he will receive another $4.5 million if he is on field for 10 percent of offensive snaps and if the team improves in any of six offensive categories (categories unknown). Another $2.5 million is tied to playing time and there is a $2M playoff bonus.
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From a larger perspective, the Bears signed two bonafide starters on the offensive line for just $4 million. These moves will prove key to the Bears' this season and the development of Justin Fields.
Fields was sacked 36 times last season. With Andy Dalton, the Bears' quarterbacks were sacked the most in the NFL last season at a whopping 58 times.
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