The New Orleans Saints are signing veteran center Austin Reiter, a source tells PFF’s Ari Meirov. Reiter was brought in this morning to work out for the team along with four other centers.
The Saints lost starting center Erik McCoy to a calf injury in Week 1. He’s expected to miss four to six weeks, per league sources.
Source: #Saints are signing former #Chiefs center Austin Reiter after he worked out for them today. #Saints starting center Erik McCoy will be out roughly 6 weeks with a calf injury, source added. So Reiter is now in.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 14, 2021
Second-year offensive lineman Cesar Ruiz moved from right guard to center after McCoy went down. The second-year lineman earned a 58.2 PFF grade for his efforts, 17th among the 30 players who played at least 10 snaps at center in Week 1.
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Reiter spent most of the last two seasons as the Kansas City Chiefs‘ starting center, and it’s a surprise that a center of his caliber was available this late in the process.
His 1.1% pressure rate allowed since the start of the 2019 season ranks first among all centers who have recorded at least 500 pass-blocking snaps, and he’s graded out in the 91st percentile of qualifying centers in PFF pass-blocking grade over that same stretch.
Even if he doesn’t project as a dominant force in the run game, the Saints can feel confident in his ability to provide clean pockets for Jameis Winston.
Austin Reiter: PFF pass-blocking grade and rank among centers since 2018 (rank among centers with 200 or more snaps, regular season only)
| Season | PFF pass-blocking grade | Rank |
| 2020 | 78.3 | 6th of 43 |
| 2019 | 82.0 | 6th of 37 |
| 2018 | 81.0 | 7th of 39 |
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