The Kansas City Chiefs are making room for wide receiver De’Anthony Thomas as he comes off of a single-game suspension and released Byron Pringle to do so.
A roster move had to be made.
The Kansas City Chiefs had an incoming player in De’Anthony Thomas coming off of suspension, and given that he’s a wide receiver, it’s not that shocking to see the team release another wideout to make room. It is just a bit surprising, however, to see that it’s Byron Pringle.
On paper, it makes sense in some ways, but other Chiefs at other positions seemed to be better candidates to the outsider than Pringle. Many thought Tremon Smith, the team’s cornerback-turned-running-back-turned-receiver, might be the odd man out given Thomas’ return ability. Alas, that’s not going to happen.
The Chiefs released Pringle on Tuesday, per Terez Paylor, and the former undrafted free agent will now find himself passing through waivers before hitting free agency. The Chiefs might be able to add Pringle again to the roster via the practice squad if no other team claims Pringle.
Pringle has looked solid in his two NFL preseasons so far, but last season was cut short due to injury and he spent the year on the Chiefs injured reserve. The Kansas State product returned this year and looked every bit as impressive as he did the year before. He was able to beat out considerable competition for that final wideout role on the active roster—over other names like Gehrig Dieter and Cody Thompson—and it seemed the Chiefs really liked his potential.
Now the Chiefs will turn to DAT to join the offense and special teams units alongside the myriad options that are already in place. Without Tyreek Hill for a few weeks, perhaps the team changed their mind about Tremon Smith’s place on the roster, but wideout Mecole Hardman, although a rookie, has plenty of return experience as well.