Getty Miami Dolphins center Austin Reiter and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
The Kansas City Chiefs have welcomed back a familiar face to back up Creed Humphrey. The Chiefs have signed center Austin Reiter, according to Ari Meirov of PFF.
Source: #Chiefs are signing C Austin Reiter, bringing their former starter back into the fold.
Reiter started 38 games for KC from 2018-2020, including both Super Bowls. He spent last season in New Orleans and Miami and is now returning to KC.
It’s a reunion.
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Reiter was a seventh-round draft choice of the Washington Commanders in the 2015 NFL Draft. He started his NFL career being demoted to Washington’s practice squad during his rookie year, which is where he would stay until the Cleveland Browns signed him to their active roster in September of 2016, per Pro Football Reference.
The South Florida product would stay in Cleveland for two seasons, playing in a total of 17 games for the Browns, but only accumulating 67 total snaps over that timeframe. It wasn’t until the Chiefs claimed him on waivers after Cleveland waived him in September of 2018 that Reiter’s involvement on an NFL field progressed significantly.
Reiter a Super Bowl Champion With Chiefs
In three seasons with Kansas City, Reiter played 42 regular-season games and started in 32 of those games. He also played in six playoff games and started in all of them, including starts in the 2019 and 2020 Super Bowls.
With the Chiefs making it a focal point during the 2021 offseason to bolster their offensive line, Reiter wasn’t re-signed and remained a free agent until the New Orleans Saints signed him at the beginning of the 2021 season for what would be a brief stint. On October 5, the Miami Dolphins signed Reiter, and he played in six games and started five of them before being waived on December 14, per Pro Football Reference.
Kansas City’s entire starting offensive line will return for the 2022 season, which includes left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., left guard Joe Thuney, center Creed Humphrey, right guard Trey Smith, third-year offensive tackle Lucas Niang, and veteran Andrew Wylie, whom the Chiefs re-signed this offseason (Niang and Wylie split time as the starting right tackle throughout the 2021 season).
Along with Reiter, the Chiefs’ offensive line depth includes Darryl Williams (C), Nick Allegretti (G), Geron Christian (OT), Prince Tega Wanogho (OT), and Roderick Johnson (OT).
This time around, Reiter won’t be a starter for Kansas City unless injuries happen, however. With Humphrey being one of the best offensive lineman in the NFL last season as a rookie, he’s cemented into the starting center job for the foreseeable future.
Chiefs Have Spending Money After Hill Trade
With Tyreek Hill being traded in a blockbuster deal to the Dolphins in exchange for five draft picks, the Chiefs now have quite a bit of cap space to add additional players via free agency.
As of March 24, Kansas City has $28.6 million in available cap space, which is No. 1 in the NFL, per Over The Cap. However, that doesn’t take into account the contracts of Chad Henne, Derrick Nnadi, Geron Christian, Luq Barcoo, Corey Coleman, and Elijah Lee. Based on the level of talent among those players, the Chiefs should have somewhere between $17-20 million in available cap space once the deals of the aforementioned players are made public.
With that cap room, Kansas City could address several needs on the team, which include adding more talent at wide receiver, defensive end, cornerback, and offensive line.
Among the notable names that are still free agents at those positions are Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham Jr., Julio Jones, Jadeveon Clowney, Patrick Peterson, Stephon Gilmore, Joe Haden, Bryan Bulaga, Ereck Flowers, and Mike Remmers.