Remember Terrelle Pryor? Of course you do and especially if you’ve been an Ohio State fan for any length of time or if you watched the Pittsburgh Steelers 2013 road loss to the Oakland Raiders. Pryor, who is currently a street free agent, made the rounds on radio row in Atlanta, GA on Thursday ahead of Super Bowl LIII and during one particular interview with KILT 610, the Jeannette, PA native and former 2011 NFL Supplemental Draft selection of the Raiders was asked if he’d like to continue his NFL career with the Steelers in 2019.
“Absolutely,” Pryor said. “I would love the opportunity. I believe if I played with them, and there’s a couple other teams on my mind, but if I played with them, I’ll be right back on the map and I think I’d have success. I would help JuJu [Smith-Schuster] and AB [Antonio Brown] and some of the younger guys. Bring my experience. And along with other teams, there’s a couple other teams that will be great fits, but I definitely would love that opportunity, especially to play for a coach like Coach [Mike] Tomlin. That’d be awesome.”
Being as Pryor is currently without a team, I’m sure he would indeed welcome the opportunity to play for the Steelers and Tomlin in 2019. If you remember, Pryor once said during a conference call with the Pittsburgh media ahead of the Raiders 2013 game against the Steelers that head coach Mike Tomlin had initially offered to select him in the 2011 NFL Supplemental Draft if he wanted to stay close to home near his family and play in Pittsburgh.
“Mike said, ‘Hey, I’ll draft you if you want to play here.’ “, said Pryor.
However, according to Pryor at that time, he thought it was in his best interest to get far away from home in order to avoid all distractions.
“Me and Tomlin had a talk,” said Pryor. “I don’t know what the guys up top were thinking and whether they wanted to pick me or not, but I know Coach Tomlin gave me an opportunity to say if I wanted to or not. I had to say no because, at a young age, I didn’t want to be near home and have distractions around me.”
After starting his NFL career with the Raiders as a quarterback, Pryor was eventually traded to the Seattle Seahawks in April of 2014. He didn’t last long with them, however, and was cut prior to the start of that regular season. He didn’t resurface until he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in January of 2015, only to be released by them that May. A short stay on the roster of the Cincinnati Bengals followed that and after being released by them that June, Pryor quickly announced that he was finally open to switching from quarterback to wide receiver.
The Cleveland Browns claimed Pryor off waivers from the Bengals and after they kept him on their original 53-man roster they quickly waived him just prior to the team’s Week 1 game. The Browns signed Pryor back to their 53-man late in the 2015 regular season and he wound up playing in their season finale against the Steelers and he caught one pass for 42 yards in that contest.
Pryor re-signed with the Browns in March of 2016 and he went on to catch 77 passes for 1,0007 yards and 4 touchdowns that season. That surprising production led to him signing a one-year, $8 million unrestricted free agent contract with the Washington Redskins in March of 2017. Pryor then proceeded to catch 20 passes for 240 yards and a touchdown in his first 8 games of the 2017 regular season with the Redskins. However, an ankle/foot injury that Pryor had suffered much earlier in the season ultimately required surgery and the team placed him on their Reserve/Injured list that November.
Last March, the New York Jets signed Pryor to a one-year, $4.5 million contract and after recording 14 receptions for 235 yards and two touchdowns in six games while fighting through a groin injury, they released him in October and a few weeks later he was signed by the Buffalo Bills. In the two games that Pryor played with the Bills this past season he caught just two passes for 17 yards. Buffalo then waived him in November and he’s been unemployed ever since.
Assuming Pryor is fully healthy and has been since the Bills waived him a few months ago, it speaks volumes that he’s yet to find a team willing to sign him to a one-year contract for the minimum amount associated with his accrued seasons. He’s been on 8 NFL teams so far and it would seem doubtful at this point that the Steelers will become team No. 9. Pryor, however, won’t turn 30 until June and assuming he still has some speed left in him, perhaps one team will give him one final shot in the coming weeks.
You can hear Pryor’s full Thursday interview below if interested.
