Giants 2025 UFA Primer: LS Casey Kreiter

The New York Giants have had their fair share of mishaps in the special teams department over the seasons, but one part of the equation has held firm and been a plus for them: veteran long snapper Casey Kreiter. 

From missed field goals and muffed punts to injuries and kickoff returns, the Giants have dealt with it all when figuring out how to build a strong special teams operation to support their other two phases. 

As long as they’ve had Casey Kreiter in the mix, handling the most important snaps of the game has never been a problem. The team has been known for finding stalwart players at the long snapper position, like Kreiter’s predecessor in Super Bowl champion Zak DeOssie. 

Kreiter has carried the torch well, coming off a career-best five special teams tackles and not a bad snap among his efforts. 

Kreiter was an undrafted free agent in 2014 who was subsequently picked up and signed by the Dallas Cowboys to serve on their practice squad through the end of the 2015 season. He then moved to Denver for the next four seasons, where his NFL career started to take off.

A season-ending calf injury-marred Kreiter’s first stint with the Broncos, but he returned an even better player on the other side. After fighting to regain his starting job in 2017, he played a heavier role for the team in 2018, including making 146 straight snaps without error to earn a Pro Bowl nod for the first time. 

Kreiter signed with the Giants as a free agent at the onset of the 2020 season. He competed with DeOssie and eventually assumed his starting job once the veteran decided to retire. Since then, he has been resigned numerous times to one-year deals and has given the team consistent snap work while serving as a dutiful cover man in their punt and field goal-blocking units. 

The 34-year-old long snapper attended the University of Iowa, where he played four seasons and was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten for the Hawkeyes. In addition to his long snapping duties, he served as the team’s backup center in his senior year. 

With his ninth season behind him, Kreiter has played in 140 career games at the NFL level and has made 16 tackles, according to Pro Football Reference.

2024 Recap 

Back for his fifth season in New York, Kreiter played in all 17 games for the Giants and had 130 total snaps. That number was 24 snaps less than in 2023, but it was more due to usage than his availability for the team. 

Of that snap usage, 78 came on punt coverage, and the other 52 snaps on field goal protection.

Along with his long snapping, Kreiter made five special teams tackles for the Giants and earned his best PFF grade of 90.0 against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6 when he had seven total snaps and one tackle in the 17-7 loss. 

He had five games with double-digit snap counts, the highest of 12 coming in Week 7 against the Eagles when the Giants couldn’t get anything going offensively in a 28-3 home rout. 

He posted 10 in the Week 17 win against the Colts as the Giants rallied 45 points and saw more work from their special teams department.

Why the Giants Should Keep Him

Year in and year out, Kreiter has been an extremely durable and efficient player who hasn’t missed a single game since he first signed with the team in 2020.

Kreiter has also seen an uptick in his tackle production over the last couple of seasons, which is a positive sign that he likes to get involved in making plays with his huge body frame. 

Add to it that he’s been a captain and leader of the Giants locker room and one of the few who has stuck around despite all the losing and roster changes. That is an important factor in having consistent voices, and something the Giants have preached regarding consistency in their player and coaching ranks. 

Bringing back Kreiter, who signed a one-year, $1,317,500 contract in 2023, won’t be a crazy re-signing for the team that needs the reliability that Kreiter has shown he can provide. 

Why the Giants Shouldn't Keep Him

The only factor that seems to be working against Kreiter's remaining with the Giants for another season is his age. He will turn 35 in the middle of training camp this August, which isn’t far off from when his predecessor, Zak DeOssie, decided to hang up the cleats for good. 

This isn’t to say that age has been a factor in Kretier’s performance lately, but Father Time is undefeated. Eventually, the Giants will need to consider alternative options and potentially bring another long snapper into camp to compete with the veteran or at least be an insurance option.

It’s also worth noting that DeOssiee was doomed by injuries, which Kreiter has avoided and hopefully will continue to avoid. While there will be cheaper options on the market, it’s hard to make a strong case against re-signing Kreiter. 

Potential Replacements if He Doesn’t Return

Free Agency: Reid Ferguson, Buffalo Bills

A man who is a few years younger than Kreiter and will turn 31 in March, eight-year veteran Reid Ferguson is one of the best and most consistent options scheduled to hit the open market. 

In each of his seasons, Ferguson has played in at least 138 snaps, the majority coming in field goal blocking. He’s earned a grade above 61.8 in seven of his eight years and made 12 total tackles (8 solo) as a member of the Bills special teams units. 

With Ferguson and company's contributions, the Bills' special teams operation finished the 2024 season with the 13th-best ranking, according to PFF. 

He’s an experienced option who could replace Kreiter in the long term if the Giants went that direction. He can be signed at about the same rate as the former player has been getting.

Keep or Dump?

Every year that we have done these undrafted free agent profiles, Kreiter's return to the team has been the easiest to predict. 

From contract value to gridiron performance, the Giants can’t go wrong with partnering with Kreiter for a sixth consecutive year. He has been the anchor that holds down the rest of their special teams units and has a rare brand of consistency you can’t overvalue in the modern NFL.

If the Giants have no quarrels with his age–and why would they, considering Kreiter is coming off a career-best five special teams tackles (three solos)—if he’s open to it, bring him back and let him run point again for the 2025 season, when the team is hopeful to have an improved special teams campaign.

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