The NFL draft just concluded. A string of undrafted rookie signings followed. A month earlier, it was the free agency period. In March, reserve/futures contracts were executed. Before that, unrestricted free agents were sorted through with a few re-signed and the remainder allowed to seek employment elsewhere.
All of this is roster building. And when a franchise loses 14 games in a single season out of 17 games, a lot of changes occur.
RELATED: CARDINALS LINKED TO COORDINATOR
Consider all this renewal,
the Arizona Cardinals: 2026 edition.
A new head coach, a lot of new faces with the coaching staff, players sent along their way, and new ones arriving. Every NFL club goes through these steps every offseason, including the league champion.
A look at the Cardinals’ roster reveals an odd name. Somebody not familiar, in a position that isn’t the most popular and is probably the most misunderstood.
A guy by the name of Casey. Casey Kreiter, to be exact. One of those undrafted rookies trying to make the roster? Oh, wait, it says here he will turn 36 this summer. A misprint? A lost assistant coach miscategorized? Lost, period?
So, let’s dig a bit.
Casey Kreiter. Sounds like a German rugby star. It says here that he is a substitute teacher in the Iowa City Community School District.
That solves it. The dude is lost. Let’s head over to Kyler Murray’s place and hit him up for some “Call of Duty Black Ops 7” gaming time.
Okay, wait a second. Kreiter has the jersey number 59. That’s pretty friggin’ odd. And on the Cardinals’ website, his picture is featured in alphabetical order. Yet, he is wearing a blue shirt in a sea of red tops. Again, wait a sec. On second look, it’s not a shirt, but a jersey. Yeah, like the top half of a football jersey.
Perhaps his rugby team’s jersey? He is a rugger, right? Didn’t someone say he was on a rugby team playing in the initial World Cup coming up next year?
No? Dig deeper then. Text Kyler and tell him we might be a little late.
Here is some new info. Looks like Kreiter is Arizona’s long snapper. Actually, the new long snapper. Okay, that might answer a few questions.
Kreiter was signed in free agency away from the New York Football Giants. That explains the blue shirt. The Giants have a history of hiring long snappers who have lengthy careers with the team. Zak DeOssie held the position for 12 years. Kreiger took over and held the job for six seasons. Ryan Kuehl handled the duties for a while before DeOssie was drafted.
And now Kreiter is with the Cardinals. At long snapper.
He replaces Aaron Brewer, who held the position with Arizona for 10 years. Weird. One longtime specialist replacing another longtime specialist. In 2018, Brewer had signed a four-year extension, but after that expired, he inked a series of one-year deals. His contract for last year ran out, and the team signed away Kreiter from the Giants.
Brewer, age 35, was a reliable specialist with no missed games in consecutive seasons. Why the switch?
Well, it’s probably not what Brewer did or did not do, but the mere fact that when any NFL head coach is fired, the entire coaching staff is let go as well. So, when Arizona head coach Jonathan Gannon was fired immediately after the 2025 season concluded, when the new guy comes aboard, most coaches hire guys they know and have worked with in the past. Some of the existing assistants may be rehired, but most aren’t.
When Mike LaFleur was hired to become Arizona’s new head coach, he brought in Michael Ghobrial to be his special teams coordinator. Ghobrial held the same job with the Giants from 2024 to 2025. The two had worked together when both were on the staff of the New York Jets years earlier.
And who was Ghobrial’s long snapper with the Giants? Kreiter.
On February 13, LaFleur hired the big three: OC Nathaniel Hackett, retained DC Nick Gallis, and brought in Ghobrial as his special teams guy. Shortly thereafter, the team re-signed kicker Chad Ryland and punter Black Gillikin after a pow-wow with Ghobrial, and then the decision to ink Kreiter over Brewer was made on March 12.
Coaches are most comfortable with players they know and understand what to expect. The job of long snapper looks like a skate job, but it isn’t. Not one bit. Yeah, they trot out for eight punts and six field goals/PAT attempts a game.
But it is a skill that isn’t discussed or understood: Upside down and backwards, with a spinning spiral pass to an exact spot where the punter has decided, and oh yeah, sent 15 yards without the ball skipping off the turf and without thumping the player’s ass or thighs.
With the field goal attempts, the spiral pass has to rotate a certain number of times so that when the holder grabs it, the laces are already facing forward. How is this done? Specialists practice and practice to know how to spin the ball only a certain number of rotations. No, really.
Brewer’s deal expired, and the new ST coach decided to bring in his guy, whom he was familiar with. Happens every day in the NFL. Hire who you know so that there are few surprises and everybody is already on the same page Day 1.
Now that Kreiger’s roster existence has been solved, what’s his story? Who is he? Glad you asked.
Kreiger was raised in DeWitt, Iowa, and attended Central Clinton High School. He played baseball, was on the wrestling team, participated in track, and played linebacker, tight end, and long snapper on the football squad. He earned All-State in football and was voted All-Conference in wrestling and football. He set the Iowa prep state record for most points in a single game and was a two-year captain.
His parents are Kurt and Jenny Kreiter. His high school coach was his father. The player committed to play football at Iowa, where he was named Academic All-Big 10 two years in a row. That means he is pretty dagum smart. Kreiger began handling long snapper duties in his sophomore year and was one of the coverage team’s best tacklers. In his senior campaign, he was voted captain of the special teams unit.
At Iowa, he won three awards: Hayden Fry ‘Extra Heartbeat’ Award, Brett Greenwood Award, and the Reggie Roby Special Teams Award. He was also named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten and again was selected Academic All-Big 10, affirming the dagum smart segment.
Kreiger is not a small man, standing 6’-3” and a beefy 250 pounds. He is a willing tackler on punt coverage.
As with most specialists, he went undrafted in the 2014 NFL draft. He signed a training camp contract with the Dallas Cowboys, had a good camp, and was a last-day cut after not being able to unseat legendary long snapper L.P. Ladouceur.
He went back home and became a substitute teacher in the Iowa City school district. He worked for schools in Tiffin, North Liberty, and Iowa City. But he also trained and kept his diet going as he should.
The Denver Broncos called for a workout, then offered a training camp contract. He competed in camp and won the job. In Week 11, he suffered a season-ending calf injury during a practice session and landed on IR. The following year, he won his job back, and in the following season, he was voted to the Pro Bowl. Now, he was on his way as a player in the National Football League.
In 2020, Kreiger signed as a free agent with the Giants and won the job as DeOssie had just retired. Each year, he signed a new one-year deal. Once Ghobrial wasn’t retained by New York and hired by LaFleur with the Cardinals, he called Kreiger to resume long snapping duties in the desert. And yes, he inked another one-year deal, this one worth $1.26 million.
So, that’s who Kreiger is. That’s why Brewer is no longer with the Cardinals. Sure, stories about long snappers will never win writing awards, and the position is one of those that nobody notices until they skip a ball on the turf, which disrupts the punter or causes the holder to bobble the snap.
But like a lot of things this upcoming season, it’s a change for this year’s Cardinals roster.
Kreiger’s Twitter handle is @caseykreiger, while his Instagram is @kritter61.
