Now we know why the Chiefs signed Terrelle Pryor.
John Dorsey announced today third-year quarterback Tyler Bray will have surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee in the next few days. Bray was an undrafted free agent signing by the Chiefs in 2013 and missed the 2014 season with an ankle injury.
Here’s a statement from Dorsey about Bray’s injury.
"“Anytime one of your players suffers a significant injury like Tyler’s it is disappointing, and we hurt for the player. With Tyler’s injury having a longer recovery time, we’ve signed quarterback Terrell Pryor to a reserve/futures contract. As we’ve said before, we are always looking to add talented players to our roster, and Terrell was among the top players on our ready list at that position with his athleticism and experience. We believe having him in our quarterback room and working with our offensive coaches will enhance his growth.”"
So that solves the Pryor mystery as to why the Chiefs would take a flier on him. Keep in mind his contract is a reserve/futures deal which means Kansas City hasn’t made any sort of longterm commitment to him.
More from Kansas City Chiefs News
- Multiple Chiefs execs mentioned as strong GM candidates in 2024
- Former Chiefs cornerback in legal trouble in Las Vegas
- Chiefs news: Travis Kelce wants to host fan ‘chug-off’ in Germany
- KC Chiefs send Dave Merritt to NFL coaching accelerator
- Creed Humphrey lands on PFF’s Top 25 Under 25 list
Kansas City has three other quarterbacks on the roster outside of Pryor and Bray: Alex Smith, Chase Daniel, and Aaron Murray. Speculation suggests the Chiefs may part ways with Daniel soon because of his salary cap situation, which would leave the Chiefs with three healthy quarterbacks on the roster. So it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if Dorsey decided to use one of his draft picks on a quarterback sometime in the draft.
The Bray injury hurts mostly because this would be the year in which we’d have an idea of what Bray could be for the Chiefs longterm. No one has questioned Bray’s physical tools as a quarterback but he went undrafted in a weak quarterback draft because his knowledge of passing systems and his ability to make the right reads are very poor. Two years of coaching and class work in Andy Reid’s offense should have been enough to produce some fruit heading into year three. Even if Bray proved to be nothing more than a backup, at least the Chiefs would have a far less expensive backup than what they have now without seeing a drop in talent.
Unfortunately for Bray and the Chiefs, we won’t get to see how far Bray has come due to his injury. And the clock may be as such that the Chiefs decide to move on to another project. Pryor is one choice, and the Chiefs did spend a fifth round draft pick on Murray. But it wouldn’t be too surprising if Kansas City brings in another young quarterback to compete for a roster spot before all is said and done. Especially if Daniel is let go in the next few weeks.