Saints to sign veteran center Austin Reiter in wake of Erik McCoy injury

After working out Austin Reiter on Tuesday, the Saints reached an agreement to add the veteran center, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com. Reiter will join a Saints team that lost starter Erik McCoy to a calf strain in Week 1.

The Saints are expected to sign Reiter to their practice squad and elevate him to their active roster before Sunday’s Week 2 game, per Pelissero. Reiter has been in free agency since March, but the former Super Bowl starter has been linked to multiple teams — the Bengals, Giants and Texans — this year.

Following McCoy’s injury, New Orleans shifted Cesar Ruiz from guard to center and summoned rookie UDFA Calvin Throckmorton to the starting lineup at guard in his first NFL game. Reiter will give the Saints considerable experience as a possible bench option or as a starting center. Such an arrangement would allow Ruiz to stay at guard, but the Michigan product did enter the 2020 draft with considerable center experience. Ruiz served as the Wolverines’ starting center from 2018-19.

Reiter, 29, served as Kansas City’s starting center over the past two seasons. The Chiefs, however, made wholesale changes on their offensive front this year. They replaced Reiter (and everyone else from their 2020 starting O-line) with second-round pick Creed Humphrey, while also adding ex-Rams starter Austin Blythe in free agency.