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Austin Reiter

Giants Met With Austin Reiter

August 1st, 2021 at 12:01pm CST by Rory Parks

The Giants brought in a veteran O-lineman yesterday, signing 30-year-old blocker Joe Looney. Yesterday morning, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reported that free agent center Austin Reiter was expected to visit with Big Blue “in the coming days” (Twitter link).

However, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that Reiter has already met with the Giants, and that the Looney acquisition has closed the door on a Reiter signing, at least for the time being. Looney could supplant Nick Gates at the pivot, thereby shifting Gates to guard, or he could serve as guard depth himself. With Reiter having worked almost exclusively at center in his career, it would certainly seem that there is no room for him with the Giants at this point.

A seventh-round pick of the Washington Football Team in 2016, Reiter eventually caught on with the Chiefs and settled into a role as Patrick Mahomes‘ snapper over the past two seasons. But Kansas City let him hit the open market this offseason and then added Austin Blythe in free agency and Creed Humphrey in the draft. Reiter has recently met with the Bengals and Texans, so he could be on the verge of finding a new home even without the Giants in the picture.

In other Giants OL news, left guard Shane Lemieux recently sustained a knee injury that will sideline him for a couple of weeks. Luckily, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets, the second-year pro will not require surgery and should be on track for the start of the regular season. Given that Lemieux was carted off the field when he suffered the injury, that comes as a big relief for New York.

C Austin Reiter On Texans’ Radar

July 29th, 2021 at 4:54pm CST by Sam Robinson

Austin Reiter booked another workout, with the Texans, and the former Super Bowl starter may be on the verge of securing a landing spot.

Reiter and the Texans are expected to continue discussing a deal that would end his months-long free agency stay, per Sports Talk 790’s Aaron Wilson (on Twitter).

This comes after the Bengals worked out Reiter. While the Texans are in the early stages of a rebuild, this status has not deterred them from making numerous short-term additions in free agency. Reiter, whom the Chiefs have since replaced, would be in position to succeed since-departed center Nick Martin or at least represent strong competition to do so.

A former Washington seventh-round pick, Reiter settled into a role as Patrick Mahomes‘ snapper over the past two seasons. Reiter started 32 games for the Chiefs from 2018-20, taking over for Mitch Morse as Kansas City’s full-time starter in 2019. The Chiefs operated aggressively up front this offseason, signing Austin Blythe and drafting center Creed Humphrey in the second round. This left the 29-year-old Reiter needing to find a new team.

Houston added longtime Seattle center starter Justin Britt this offseason, but Britt has not played since the 2019 season. The Texans also signed interior O-lineman Lane Taylor, who joins a brigade of veterans to latch on with the retooling franchise this year.

Bengals To Meet With Austin Reiter

July 23rd, 2021 at 1:39pm CST by Zachary Links

The Bengals will meet with Austin Reiter on Monday (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). Reiter, who started in back-to-back Super Bowls for the Chiefs, could help to improve the offensive line that did little to protect Joe Burrow in 2020.

The Chiefs tried to keep Reiter in the spring, but their offer wasn’t to his liking. When things stalled, they pivoted to former Rams center Austin Blythe.

Reiter, 30 in November, started 12 games in 2020 and played every single snap in the Super Bowl. The year prior, he saw time in all 16 games. A seventh-round pick of Washington back in 2015, he quickly ended up on the Browns. He only had one career start under his belt when he landed in Kansas City via a waiver claim in 2018. Now, he’s a seasoned vet with 33 starts to his credit.

The Bengals passed up Penei Sewell at No. 5 overall, choosing to fortify their O-Line later on in the draft instead. Now, armed with a new OL coach in Frank Pollack, they’re hoping right tackle Riley Reiff can be a big difference-maker. Reiter, meanwhile, could shore up the interior.

Chiefs Have Made Offer To C Austin Reiter

March 17th, 2021 at 8:07pm CST by Ben Levine

Austin Reiter might end up back in Kansas City after all. Herbie Teope of the Kansas City Star reports (via Twitter) that the Chiefs have made an offer to the free agent center. Reiter is considering the organization’s offer.

We learned last week that the Chiefs were likely going to let Reiter hit the open market, and there was an expectation that he’d ultimately land elsewhere. However, the 29-year-old has yet to commit to an offer, so perhaps Kansas City changed their tune when they learned of the player’s adjusted asking price.

Reiter started 12 games this past year (and played every snap in the Super Bowl), and all 16 the season before. A seventh-round pick of Washington back in 2015, he quickly ended up on the Browns and only had one career start under his belt when he landed in Kansas City via a waiver claim in 2018.

He turned into a nice diamond in the rough find for the Chiefs as a serviceable player, but it sounded like the veteran could end up being a victim of the organization’s desire to revamp their offensive line in front of Patrick Mahomes. The team has already started with that makeover, inking Joe Thuney to a five-year deal and signing Kyle Long out of retirement.

Chiefs C Austin Reiter Expected To Walk

March 11th, 2021 at 5:40pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Chiefs really weren’t playing around about overhauling their offensive line. Hours after releasing both of their starting tackles, it looks like another starter on the O-line will be on the move shortly.

Center Austin Reiter will hit the open market and is expected to sign somewhere other than Kansas City, a source told Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link). Patrick Mahomes was running for his life in the Super Bowl, and the Chiefs are clearly making upgrading his protection their priority this offseason.

Reiter started 12 games this past year (and played every snap in the Super Bowl), and all 16 the season before. A seventh-round pick of Washington back in 2015, he quickly ended up on the Browns and only had one career start under his belt when he landed in Kansas City via a waiver claim in 2018.

He turned into a nice diamond in the rough find for the Chiefs as a serviceable player, but they’re now apparently looking for a player with more upside to man the pivot. Reiter turned 29 in November.

West Notes: Hawks, 49ers, Broncos, Chiefs

December 6th, 2018 at 9:18pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Before he signed with a one-year, $8MM deal with the Vikings in March, defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson received a $4-5MM offer to stay with the Seahawks, as he explained to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press (Twitter link). “The contract they offered me was terrible. It wasn’t what they told me when I left after the exit meetings,” Richardson said. “When my agent told me the offer, I told him, ‘They can keep that.’” Richardson has excelled for Minnesota this season: Pro Football Focus currently grades him as the league’s No. 36 interior defender, while Richardson is tied for sixth among defensive tackles with 14 quarterback hits. Given that he only inked a one-year pact, Richardson will be able to hit the free agent market again in 2019 at the age of 28.

Here’s more from the NFL’s two West divisions:

  • In her first comments to the media after Reuben Foster was arrested on domestic violence charges in Tampa last month, Foster’s ex-girlfriend Elissa Ennis indicated the 49ers attempted to intervene during Foster’s arrest. It’s unclear whether Ennis was referring to San Francisco staffers or other players, but the club has issued a statement nonetheless. “The 49ers fully cooperated with authorities, assisted in locating Mr. Foster and in no way impeded their investigation,” said the team. San Francisco, of course, immediately waived Foster following the arrest, but he was claimed by the Redskins. Tampa Police are still reviewing the case against Foster, but an arraignment is tentatively scheduled for January 3, tweets Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area.
  • The Broncos lost one of their most important offensive players in Emmanuel Sanders on Wednesday, but they did get a little lucky in acquiring fellow receiver Andre Holmes off waivers from the Bills, as Mike Klis of 9News explains (Twitter link). Sanders went down with a torn Achilles at 12:06 MT, and Denver’s doctors had diagnosed him 14 minutes later. When practice ended at 1:20, Broncos offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave relayed to the club’s personnel department that he had coached Holmes while the two were in Oakland. Five minutes before the waiver deadline, the Broncos put in a claim on Holmes.
  • Austin Reiter‘s two-year extension with the Chiefs has a maximum value of $5.5MM, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Reiter, a reserve offensive lineman, will receive a $1MM signing bonus that, as Joel Corry of CBSSports.com notes (via Twitter) will prorate over three seasons given that Reiter signed his new deal before the close of the 2018 campaign. Reiter, 27, was projected to become a restricted free agent next spring, but he’ll now get a little more financial security instead of a non-guaranteed RFA tag. He started four games at center for Kansas City earlier this year while Mitch Morse was injured.
  • Seahawks guard D.J. Fluker is expected to miss several weeks with a hamstring strain, head coach Pete Carroll told reporters, including Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (Twitter link). Fluker, who inked a one-year, $1.5MM deal with Seattle this year, hasn’t played very well during his first season in the Pacific Northwest, as PFF grades him as a bottom-15 guard among 79 qualifiers. Former undrafted free agent Jordan Simmons will take over at right guard for the time being.

Chiefs Extend OL Austin Reiter

December 5th, 2018 at 5:17pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Chiefs announced that they’ve signed offensive lineman Austin Reiter to an extension. Kansas City did not provide the length or terms of Reiter’s new deal.

Reiter, 27, was projected to become a restricted free agent next spring. Restricted free agent tenders are only one year in length and don’t offer any guarantees until the regular season begins, so Reiter may have sacrificed some immediate earning power in exchange for financial security. Reiter almost surely wouldn’t have been offered a first-rounder tender, but a second-round tender (which should be worth roughly $3MM) wouldn’t have been out of the question. A 2019 right of first refusal tender should be worth ~$2MM, so it won’t be surprising if Reiter’s annual salary/guarantees comes in somewhere between those $2MM and $3MM figures.

Originally a seventh-round pick of the Redskins in 2015, Reiter saw two seasons of action with the Browns from 2016-17 before the Chiefs claimed him off waivers this past September. Reiter has made four starts for the Chiefs this year while filling in for the injured Mitch Morse, and earned spectacular grades from Pro Football Focus while handling the pivot. While small sample size is a factor (Reiter has played only 175 offensive snaps), PFF currently ranks him as the No. 10 center in the NFL.

Reiter moved to backup duty when Morse returned in Week 13, and he’ll remain there barring another injury. But given what should be cheap annual rates on his contract, Reiter could prove to be valuable depth. He becomes the second ex-Browns offensive lineman to sign an extension with the Chiefs this year, joining former Cleveland first-rounder Cameron Erving.

Minor AFC Transactions: 9/3/18

September 3rd, 2018 at 7:40pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Monday’s minor moves from the AFC:

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

New York Jets

Oakland Raiders

Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC North

September 2nd, 2018 at 3:02pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC North teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Ravens, Bengals, Browns, and Steelers are noted below.

Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.

Here are Sunday’s AFC North transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:

Baltimore Ravens

Practice squad:

Cincinnati Bengals

Signed:

Practice squad:

Cleveland Browns

Claimed:

Cut:

Pittsburgh Steelers

Practice squad:

* = international player
** = practice squad exception

Browns Re-Sign WR Josh Gordon

April 16th, 2018 at 10:03am CST by Zachary Links

The Browns announced that they have officially re-signed exclusive rights free agent Josh Gordon. In addition to the star wide receiver, the Browns have also formally re-upped wide receiver Matt Hazel, offensive lineman Austin Reiter, and fullback Danny Vitale. All four players are set to take part in the team’s offseason program, which started on Monday morning. 

Gordon should have been an unrestricted free agent by now, but multiple suspensions caused his contract to toll. As a result, Gordon did not have any options this offseason and the Browns had full control over his rights.

Gordon, 26, appeared in five games for Cleveland in 2017. In that time, he posted 18 receptions for 335 yards and one touchdown. This year, he’ll play alongside Corey Coleman and the newly-acquired Jarvis Landry. If Gordon is able to stay on track, he could thrive as a deep threat in the Browns’ revamped offense.

Gordon first joined the Browns as a second-round pick in the 2012 supplemental draft. All in all, he has appeared in 40 games and recorded 179 receptions for 3,089 yards and 15 touchdowns. In 2013, he led the league with 1,646 receiving yards.

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