When Ryan Poles spoke in loose terms about goals in free agency, he referenced finding hungry players who are willing to bet on themselves — and new wide receiver Byron Pringle matches that criteria, coming with a background the new Chicago Bears general manager knows well.
Pringle said he liked to be one of the first Kansas City Chiefs players in the facility every morning, and that he would regularly pass Poles on his way to or from breakfast, exchanging pleasantries. So, when Poles and coach Matt Eberflus called Pringle to talk about a future with the Bears, the wide receiver knew it would be a good match.
“Somebody that would come to work every day ready to compete at a high level,” Pringle said Sunday morning when asked what Poles saw in him. “I don’t care about no numbers. I want that letter at the end of the game, that W.”
There is a level of projection involved with Pringle, who caught 42 passes for 568 yards (13.5 average) and five touchdowns last season for the Chiefs. He added another 12 catches for 82 yards and three scores in three playoff games, but was the fourth option in that passing attack behind wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman and tight end Travis Kelce.
With a one-year contract that will pay him $4 million with an opportunity to earn another $2 million, Pringle will be thrust into a larger role in a Bears offense that currently has only one other wide receiver with a track record for production in Darnell Mooney.
Pringle gives the Bears a potential slot receiver, as he lined up there for 63.1% of his 568 snaps last season. The Chiefs ran an abundance of 3×1 formations with Kelce flexed out as the X receiver and Pringle on the back side as the No. 2 or No. 3. The Bears don’t have a version of Kelce in their offense, although a source said the team did inquire about McHenry East product Robert Tonyan, who re-signed with the Green Bay Packers on Saturday after he suffered a torn ACL last season. It is possible new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy has plenty in store for Pringle on the outside.
Pringle was particularly effective for quarterback Patrick Mahomes, catching 42 of 60 targets (70%) after making receptions on 25 of 33 targets in 2019 and 2020 combined. Last season, he tied for second in the league averaging 4.1 yards of separation per reception. That’s notable because the Bears struggled there in 2021. Chiefs opponents, of course, were much more worried about Hill and Kelce, but it’s strong evidence Pringle has savvy and nuance to his route-running ability.
A former undrafted free agent from Kansas State in 2018, Pringle suffered a hamstring injury in the preseason finale of his rookie season and then required surgery to repair a sports hernia. He found a niche on special teams and was worked into the offense, and now he arrives to a Bears team working to build an offense around second-year quarterback Justin Fields.
“I see him as an elite quarterback,” Pringle said. “He keeps his legs alive and he definitely knows how to extend plays, and that is something that I did in Kansas City. When the play broke down, I always tried to get in the quarterback’s vision. With him being able to keep plays and drives alive, I know I fit perfect in this offense, especially with a quarterback like Justin Fields.”
The Bears have to replace Allen Robinson after he departed for the Los Angeles Rams in free agency — and there is more work to do at the position. The Chiefs re-signed Josh Gordon and picked up JuJu Smith-Schuster to compensate for the departure of Pringle. Smith-Schuster has a base salary of $3.25 million with an additional $7.5 million in upside.
Poles and his staff will likely be looking closely at wide receivers with at least one of their three Day 2 picks in the April draft. If Pringle is the kind of fit the team hopes, the Bears can address his future after the season.
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