Once again, the Kansas City Chiefs find themselves looking to re-tool their roster and situate themselves for another Super Bowl run. They fell short of that goal this year, and unlike their Super Bowl LV loss a year ago, the weakness in roster construction isn’t quite as glaring.
Brett Veach will have a decision to make on a number of unrestricted free agents this season, many of whom contributed to the success of this franchise for years now. One of those players is veteran WR Byron Pringle, who is coming off a one-year $2.1 million restricted free agent contract tender.
An undrafted free agent by the way of Kansas State in 2018, Pringle worked his way up from being a practice squad player and special teamer to a key rotational piece in the K.C. offense. The team has invested a lot of developmental time in Pringle, who will turn 29 years old during the 2022 NFL season. That investment has paid off so far.
Pringle posted a career year from a statistical standpoint in 2021, with 42 catches on 60 targets for 568 yards and five touchdown grabs. He also was the team’s starting kick returner with 25 returns for 621 yards in 2021. He played nearly 50% of the Chiefs’ offensive snaps in 2021 after having never played more than 27% in a single year prior.
During the playoffs, Pringle’s performance was even more impressive. In three playoff games this season, he caught 12 passes on 17 targets for 82 yards and three touchdowns. He’s actually now tied with Marcus Allen, Mike Garrett, and Knile Davis for the fourth-most postseason touchdowns in franchise history.
Pringle was the No. 3 receiving option for Patrick Mahomes the majority of the season, but it wasn’t all sunshine and roses. Outside of Travis Kelce, Pringle led the team in percentage of dropped passes per target according to Pro Football Reference’s tracking. A total of 6.7% of Pringle’s regular-season targets were dropped in 2021.
There’s a chance that Pringle is back in free agency despite any shortcomings. He proved this season that he is capable of being a productive option in this offense. At the same time, he might have played his way out of what Kansas City views as an affordable free-agent contract.
The Chiefs already have nine receivers under contract for 2022 that aren’t named Tyreek Hill. That group includes players like former fifth-round draft pick Cornell Powell. It includes Daurice Fountain who was active for each of the three postseason games for Kansas City this year. It includes several new additions by the way of reserve/future contract too.