As part of a flurry of transactions on May 6, the Kansas City Chiefs waived center Austin Reiter, according to the team.
Reiter was a seventh-round draft choice of the then-Washington Redskins 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.
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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.
On March 23, the Chiefs re-signed Reiter, according to Arie Meirov of PFF.
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).
Without Reiter on the depth chart, Kansas City’s reserve options along the offensive line (excluding rookies) include Geron Christian Sr. (T), Prince Tega Wanogho (T), Nick Allegretti (G), Darryl Williams (C), and Roderick Johnson (T).
Chiefs Sign Majority of Draft Picks, UDFAs
Along with waiving Reiter, the defending AFC West champions also announced that they had signed seven of the 10 members of their 2022 draft class: Trent McDuffie, George Karlaftis, Bryan Cook, Darrian Kinnard, Isiah Pacheco, Nakeeh Johnson, and Jaylen Watson. The three players that remain unsigned are Skyy Moore, Joshua Williams, and Leo Chanel.
Kansas City also announced that they signed several undrafted rookies: guard Mike Caliendo, linebackers Jack Cochrane and Mike Rose, quarterback Dustin Crum, running backs Jerrion Ealy and Tayon Fleet-Davis, defensive back Nasir Greer, tight end Kehinde Oginni, offensive tackle Gene Pryor, and wide receiver Justyn Ross.
Chiefs Waived 6 Other Players on May 5
Before waiving Reiter, Kansas City had parted ways with six other players on May 5: wide receivers Gehrig Deiter, Greg Jennings, tight ends Josh Pederson and Nakia Griffin-Stewart, defensive tackle Lorenzo Neal and defensive end Jonathan Woodard, per the NFL’s personnel notice.
The most notable name among the players released was Dieter, a journeyman that originally signed to Kansas City’s practice squad as an undrafted rookie in 2017. He was active for a total of 10 games during his five years with the Chiefs, the last being on January 16, 2021, according to Pro Football Reference.
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