Vikings Sign Veteran Guard Chris Reed to Two-Year Deal

[Angels Wings]

The Vikings have signed veteran guard Chris Reed to a two-year deal, according to multiple reports. The Minnesota State Mankato product will compete with Jesse Davis, Wyatt Davis, and others for the Vikings' vacant starting job at right guard.

[Maelstrom88]

[J. Kapp 11]

Reed has made 29 starts in 61 career games. He was ranked 38th out of 88 guards by Pro Football Focus last season. He was 26th in run blocking and 56th in pass protection.

Slightly better than average, which is way better than Oli Udoh, who ranked 79th.

Hard to know if this is a good signing because we don’t know the terms.

[Texas Vike]

Reed has made 29 starts in 61 career games. He was ranked 38th out of 88 guards by Pro Football Focus last season. He was 26th in run blocking and 56th in pass protection.

Slightly better than average, which is way better than Oli Udoh, who ranked 79th.

Hard to know if this is a good signing because we don’t know the terms.

Worth noting: some Colts fans on Reddit are saying he was a great, underrated player for them. Sounds better than any G we currently have!

[J. Kapp 11]

Reed has made 29 starts in 61 career games. He was ranked 38th out of 88 guards by Pro Football Focus last season. He was 26th in run blocking and 56th in pass protection.

Slightly better than average, which is way better than Oli Udoh, who ranked 79th.

Hard to know if this is a good signing because we don’t know the terms.

Worth noting: some Colts fans on Reddit are saying he was a great, underrated player for them. Sounds better than any G we currently have!

Amazingly enough, that actually makes me feel better about the signing. Fans are usually the harshest critics.

After all, we certainly are.

[halfgiz]

Seems like a good signing. Hoping our offensive line just improved.

[CharVike]

This should be the final nail in Holder Olli's cut coffin. He was a walking drive killer. Reed? Typical FA cast off. Not what anybody wants just a body to put out there so you have 5 guys to fill out the LOS. We are team No 5 in his career. That sums it up.
He played at Minnesota State so some local ties I guess. Plus he has a school record for the outdoor hammer throw. That will come in handy during beer fest.

[J. Kapp 11]

This should be the final nail in Holder Olli's cut coffin. He was a walking drive killer. Reed? Typical FA cast off. Not what anybody wants just a body to put out there so you have 5 guys to fill out the LOS. We are team No 5 in his career. That sums it up.
He played at Minnesota State so some local ties I guess. Plus he has a school record for the outdoor hammer throw. That will come in handy during beer fest.

You are quite possibly the most polarizing football fan I’ve ever seen.

If a guy plays for more than a team or two, he’s just a body. If he’s not a Pro Bowler, he’s a bum.

I mean, you do realize that simply being on an NFL team makes that person one of the best in the world at his job, right? Are you among the best in the world at your job? I was really, really good at mine, but I wouldn’t dream of making that claim.

Yes, some players are better than others. Some aren’t good enough to start. Others get cut because they don’t quite have the talent. But they’re not bums.

And Chris Reed, while not an all-pro, is far more than “just a guy.” He ranked in the top half of guards in the NFL. If Udoh is “a walking drive killer,” (and yeah, he ranked 79th out of 88 guards) isn’t it an upgrade to acquire the 38th ranked guard?

No team has all stars at every position, but that doesn’t make them bums.

[StanM]

This should be the final nail in Holder Olli's cut coffin. He was a walking drive killer. Reed? Typical FA cast off. Not what anybody wants just a body to put out there so you have 5 guys to fill out the LOS. We are team No 5 in his career. That sums it up.
He played at Minnesota State so some local ties I guess. Plus he has a school record for the outdoor hammer throw. That will come in handy during beer fest.

You are quite possibly the most polarizing football fan I’ve ever seen.

If a guy plays for more than a team or two, he’s just a body. If he’s not a Pro Bowler, he’s a bum.

I mean, you do realize that simply being on an NFL team makes that person one of the best in the world at his job, right? Are you among the best in the world at your job? I was really, really good at mine, but I wouldn’t dream of making that claim.

Yes, some players are better than others. Some aren’t good enough to start. Others get cut because they don’t quite have the talent. But they’re not bums.

And Chris Reed, while not an all-pro, is far more than “just a guy.” He ranked in the top half of guards in the NFL. If Udoh is “a walking drive killer,” (and yeah, he ranked 79th out of 88 guards) isn’t it an upgrade to acquire the 38th ranked guard?

No team has all stars at every position, but that doesn’t make them bums.

There was a recent article that grouped the Vikings roster by performance at all positions. It made the points that no team has an all pro bowl caliber roster and that the bottom third of our roster needs an upgrade. I see some people these recent less than spectacular moves as an attempt to raise the talent level or to use another term “depth”.

I see a calculated process that is going to take more than one season to complete. It appears that our new hires agreed to come in here and take one more shot with aging veterans before phasing out more of the aging players. I am an original Vikings fan of 60 years and have seen long stretches of needs at whole position groups that lasted for years. I’m liking the way they’re not blowing this up totally but rather phasing out and replacing players. I suspect the strategy of tanking doesn’t fit the Wilf’s commitment to keep a competitive team on the field year in and year out. I can understand that approach and some teams have used it to create dynasties. The thing is nowadays is that free agency and quick rebuilds have been successful in some cases. At the end of the day the Vikings have never listened to my opinions and my only involvement is whether I continue to follow them.

[Maelstrom88]

The question isn't whether or not he can succeed vs. a DT at Grambling State it's whether he can block the average starting DT in the NFL. The answer is not very well. So in that regard yes he is a bum and a JAG. However, he is better than what we had and the draft will still present the opportunity to bring in real upgrades. This board needs to stop acting like a player is good just because he plays in the NFL. The answer is they WERE good as college players but are they good compared to their peers NOW? Not whether they can block me or you but whether they can block professional DTs on a consistent basis.

[CharVike]

This should be the final nail in Holder Olli's cut coffin. He was a walking drive killer. Reed? Typical FA cast off. Not what anybody wants just a body to put out there so you have 5 guys to fill out the LOS. We are team No 5 in his career. That sums it up.
He played at Minnesota State so some local ties I guess. Plus he has a school record for the outdoor hammer throw. That will come in handy during beer fest.

You are quite possibly the most polarizing football fan I’ve ever seen.

If a guy plays for more than a team or two, he’s just a body. If he’s not a Pro Bowler, he’s a bum.

I mean, you do realize that simply being on an NFL team makes that person one of the best in the world at his job, right? Are you among the best in the world at your job? I was really, really good at mine, but I wouldn’t dream of making that claim.

Yes, some players are better than others. Some aren’t good enough to start. Others get cut because they don’t quite have the talent. But they’re not bums.

And Chris Reed, while not an all-pro, is far more than “just a guy.” He ranked in the top half of guards in the NFL. If Udoh is “a walking drive killer,” (and yeah, he ranked 79th out of 88 guards) isn’t it an upgrade to acquire the 38th ranked guard?

No team has all stars at every position, but that doesn’t make them bums.

Thousands play this game at each position every year and very few make it to this level. I'm aware of that. I defend Cousins every time people claim he is a bum stat builder or loser and only wants money. IMO Udoh has too many holding calls which certainly don't help drives. He might stick if they move him back to T as a backup. This guy is an upgrade and I never claimed he wan't. There's a reason(s) why at 29 he has never been the long term answer for his previous teams. I give him credit for the fact that he has had a long career compared to most. That's not easy. I worked in IT my entire life and was never close to being the best.

[J. Kapp 11]

The question isn't whether or not he can succeed vs. a DT at Grambling State it's whether he can block the average starting DT in the NFL. The answer is not very well. So in that regard yes he is a bum and a JAG. However, he is better than what we had and the draft will still present the opportunity to bring in real upgrades. This board needs to stop acting like a player is good just because he plays in the NFL. The answer is they WERE good as college players but are they good compared to their peers NOW? Not whether they can block me or you but whether they can block professional DTs on a consistent basis.

You guys are unbelievable. You automatically assume Chris Reed is worthless before you’ve ever seen him play a down for this team, even though you’ve never seen him play a down for any team.

Again, Chris Reed is ranked 36th out of 88 qualified guards in the NFL. That IS against NFL tackles, not Grambling State. Given that there are 32 teams who each need two starting guards, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that makes him more than a bum. Is he the second coming of Steve Hutchinson? I’ve never seen him play either, but most indicators point to the answer being “no.” Is he better than what we had? Those same indicators say “yes.”

Some of you need to come to grips with the idea that roster management for the 2022 Vikings is not gonna to go down the way you would do it.

[Texas Vike]

Worth noting: some Colts fans on Reddit are saying he was a great, underrated player for them. Sounds better than any G we currently have!

Amazingly enough, that actually makes me feel better about the signing. Fans are usually the harshest critics.

After all, we certainly are.

Yeah, that's how I view it. Fans' comments in these situations are often pretty good indicators. They were bummed to lose him, which is always a good sign.

[CharVike]

You are quite possibly the most polarizing football fan I’ve ever seen.

If a guy plays for more than a team or two, he’s just a body. If he’s not a Pro Bowler, he’s a bum.

I mean, you do realize that simply being on an NFL team makes that person one of the best in the world at his job, right? Are you among the best in the world at your job? I was really, really good at mine, but I wouldn’t dream of making that claim.

Yes, some players are better than others. Some aren’t good enough to start. Others get cut because they don’t quite have the talent. But they’re not bums.

And Chris Reed, while not an all-pro, is far more than “just a guy.” He ranked in the top half of guards in the NFL. If Udoh is “a walking drive killer,” (and yeah, he ranked 79th out of 88 guards) isn’t it an upgrade to acquire the 38th ranked guard?

No team has all stars at every position, but that doesn’t make them bums.

There was a recent article that grouped the Vikings roster by performance at all positions. It made the points that no team has an all pro bowl caliber roster and that the bottom third of our roster needs an upgrade. I see some people these recent less than spectacular moves as an attempt to raise the talent level or to use another term “depth”.

I see a calculated process that is going to take more than one season to complete. It appears that our new hires agreed to come in here and take one more shot with aging veterans before phasing out more of the aging players. I am an original Vikings fan of 60 years and have seen long stretches of needs at whole position groups that lasted for years. I’m liking the way they’re not blowing this up totally but rather phasing out and replacing players. I suspect the strategy of tanking doesn’t fit the Wilf’s commitment to keep a competitive team on the field year in and year out. I can understand that approach and some teams have used it to create dynasties. The thing is nowadays is that free agency and quick rebuilds have been successful in some cases. At the end of the day the Vikings have never listened to my opinions and my only involvement is whether I continue to follow them.

Everybody knows there isn't a team with a bunch of all pros. Tanking gets you nothing unless you know how to draft. Of course if there is an Andrew Luck prospect then you don't even need to know how to draft. Suck for luck. All a fan has to do is look at our last X number of years drafting and you know what the roster is. Off the top of my head Speilman missed on a few CBs and so our secondary sucks and we need to find players. Bradbury sucks because Speilman has never shown the ability to select all pro lineman and I don't need some grade because I have seen him play and get pushed all over the place and laid out flat on his back. He can't hold the point. That's a bum at the NFL level. Yes he is a great college player. There's only about 1700 total players. There's about 13,000 college players. Do the math. Very few make it. But there are different performance levels at the pro level. Fans call Cousins a bum or stiff or loser or non competitor and that's OK it's there opinion. But he certainly is much better than a guy throwing a ball in his back yard like me. He's certainly better than Kyle Sloter who made it to the pro level but sucks at that level. Free agency has been around a long time. IMO teams don't let all the guys they develop who are good pros hit FA. They keep them. Of course someone else may have a different opinion.

[Pondering Her Percy]

The question isn't whether or not he can succeed vs. a DT at Grambling State it's whether he can block the average starting DT in the NFL. The answer is not very well. So in that regard yes he is a bum and a JAG. However, he is better than what we had and the draft will still present the opportunity to bring in real upgrades. This board needs to stop acting like a player is good just because he plays in the NFL. The answer is they WERE good as college players but are they good compared to their peers NOW? Not whether they can block me or you but whether they can block professional DTs on a consistent basis.

You guys are unbelievable. You automatically assume Chris Reed is worthless before you’ve ever seen him play a down for this team, even though you’ve never seen him play a down for any team.

Again, Chris Reed is ranked 36th out of 88 qualified guards in the NFL. That IS against NFL tackles, not Grambling State. Given that there are 32 teams who each need two starting guards, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that makes him more than a bum. Is he the second coming of Steve Hutchinson? I’ve never seen him play either, but most indicators point to the answer being “no.” Is he better than what we had? Those same indicators say “yes.”

Some of you need to come to grips with the idea that roster management for the 2022 Vikings is not gonna to go down the way you would do it.

Agreed good post Kapp. I feel like guys just want to sign hall of famers in every position and if we dont have that, it's a worthless signing.

As crazy as this sounds, I'd take a guy like Chris Reed who is pretty average across the board over a guy like Brandon Scherff who comes with a $17 million a year price tag and hasnt played a full season since 2015 (Cousins FIRST year starting in WASHINGTON.... yeah that's how long it's been).

And I dont know who the original poster thinks this guys has been blocker. He has started 20 out of a possible 33 games in the last two years and has allowed 1 sack total in two seasons. That alone is miles better than anyone we have had in that specific RG position.