KC Chiefs release Austin Reiter after 2022 NFL Draft

There’s a saying that you can never go home again, but Austin Reiter was hoping things could work out anyway. As it turns out, the Kansas City Chiefs won’t be providing him a place to play in the ’22 season after announcing the release of the veteran center on Friday.

The Chiefs announced the signing of several draft picks as well as priority free agents at the end of the week following the 2022 NFL Draft, and even after clearing considerable space with roster cuts throughout the week, Reiter was the latest player to lose his spot only weeks after joining the team in ’22.

Reiter signed with the Chiefs earlier this spring in free agency as a move to bolster the team’s offensive line depth with a familiar face who could step right in if something happened to starting center Creed Humphrey. The Chiefs lost Austin Blythe after a single season to the Seattle Seahawks this offseason, so it made sense to try to replace him with another veteran.

The Kansas City Chiefs have decided that Austin Reiter won’t be returning to the regular-season roster after all.

Reiter is a very familiar face for Chiefs Kingdom after serving a three-year stint with the team from 2018 to 2020. He climbed Kansas CIty’s depth chart to become the starter at center for two seasons in which the team went to consecutive Super Bowls, winning one of them.

Reiter ended up leaving the Chiefs in free agency last year but failed to find meaningful work with another team for any real length of time. He played in six games for the Miami Dolphins and another for the New Orleans Saints and even found himself signed to the L.A. Rams practice squad for less than a week.

Given the journeyman turn that Reiter’s career has taken, we might have seen the last of his days as a starter, but his experience should allow him to provide value when injuries surface as the season goes on for someone. It just might mean a waiting game for Reiter until then.