Gehrig Dieter returns to Kansas City Chiefs practice squad

On Tuesday, Brett Veach brought back a familiar face to the practice squad of the Kansas City Chiefs with the signing of Gehrig Dieter.

Wide receiver Gehrig Dieter has reportedly rejoined the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad in an interesting move that brings back a familiar face to the locker room and roster.

This will be the third season on the roster in some form or another for Dieter, an Alabama product who signed with Kansas City shortly after the conclusion of the 2017 NFL Draft. He developed a quick public friendship with Patrick Mahomes and Dieter is more known for the rapport between the two than any on-field contribution to date.

Dieter sat on the team’s practice squad through the 2017 season and played in 4 regular season games in 2018, mostly on special teams. However, he did make his first and only career regular season reception against the Oakland Raiders last season, a 22-yard gain. He added another 11-yard catch in the postseason.

This offseason, Dieter was competing for important reps alongside Marcus Kemp, Cody Thompson, Byron Pringle and others until he was sidelined by a back injury. At first the Chiefs placed him on injured reserve, but the franchise ultimately released him in early September with an injury settlement.

The arrival of Dieter back to the roster comes at an intriguing time considering just how healthy the Chiefs are getting at the position. If Dieter had been signed a couple weeks back, it would have made much more sense given the team’s loss of both Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins to recent injuries. Hill returned to the field and scored two touchdowns on Sunday, and Watkins is back to practice after suffering a hamstring injury. Both are expected to play on Thursday Night Football against the Denver Broncos.