On Friday, the Minnesota Vikings announced that the team has signed former Indianapolis Colts offensive lineman Chris Reed.
If the Minnesota Vikings want Kirk Cousins to lead them to success in 2022, keeping pressure out of his face on each snap is going to be very important. On Friday, the Vikings added a player in free agency who should be able to keep Cousins on his feet next season.
Minnesota and former Indianapolis Colts offensive lineman Chris Reed agreed to a contract on Friday. According to the Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson, the Vikings gave Reed a two-year contract.
With the Colts last season, Reed appeared in 14 games, and he started in six of them. PFF graded him as the 38th-best guard in the NFL in 2021 (out of 82).
Could Chris Reed end up as a starter for the Minnesota Vikings in 2022?
With the addition of Reed on Friday, Minnesota is certainly going to have some competition for their starting right guard spot during the next few months.
Reed spent some time as both a right guard and a left guard with Indianapolis last season, so he’s got the versatility to line up at either spot. But with Ezra Cleveland expected to remain at left guard for Vikings during the 2022 campaign, Reed will likely be competing to be the team’s starting right guard this summer.
The competition for this right guard spot is starting to get a bit crowded for Minnesota. Reed was added to a group fighting for the role that already included Wyatt Davis, Jesse Davis, Oli Udoh, and possibly Austin Schlottmann. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if the Vikings added someone else to the mix from this year’s NFL Draft either.
Competition is supposed to bring the best out of players, so we’ll see if this remains the case this summer when the fight to be Minnesota’s starting right guard will truly get underway.