Andy Reid, Brett Veach on possibility of Chiefs re-signing free agent Byron Pringle
Wide receiver Byron Pringle’s career arc has been trending up since joining the Chiefs in 2018.
Pringle signed as an undrafted free agent following a solid career at Kansas State, where he made his mark as a kick returner and a receiver.
Hamstring and hernia injuries landed Pringle on injured reserve in his rookie season, but he caught his first NFL touchdown and had a 100-yard receiving game in 2019. Pringle has seen his playing time with the offense and and special teams increase each season since.
In 2021, Pringle played 49% of the Chiefs’ offense snaps and had career bests in receptions (42), yards (568) and touchdowns (five). He has a career catch rate of 72%, too.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid was asked Tuesday about Pringle at the NFL Combine, and Reid mentioned one other noteworthy item about Pringle.
“I like Pringle. He’s a free agent right now,” Reid said. “I sure like him; he did a great job. Got a potato chip contract, I mean it was great. It worked out perfectly for him.”
Pringle really did land a partnership deal with the potato-crisp maker, Pringles.
The next deal Pringle makes will be with an NFL team. The Chiefs paid Pringle $2.1 million, so he’ll be looking for a bump in pay on the open market.
Pro Football Network’s projections have Pringle returning to the Chiefs, and general manager Brett Veach discussed that possibility at the Combine.
“Byron is another guy like (cornerback Charvarius) Ward that over the years, he’s developed into a really good football player both on special teams and in our wide receiver sets,” Veach said. “He’s another guy — I think it’s a good thing because we have a lot of these guys that are good players so it’s a good problem to have — but again just like Charvarius and a number of these other players, we’re not going to lose sight of these guys and look forward to getting with them and their agents this week and hopefully try to retain as many of these players as we can.”
This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 9:50 AM.
