Why The Kadarius Toney Trade Was Still A Good One For The Chiefs

Kadarius Toney made his final appearance in a Kansas City Chiefs uniform in the Chiefs’ final preseason game.

“He is a talented kid,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said after the game. “He’s battled to make the team.”

On Tuesday the Chiefs waived the 25-year-old receiver prior to his fourth regular season.

After recording just 41 catches for 340 yards in one-and-a-half years with Kansas City, his Chiefs tenure is obviously deemed unproductive.

But that doesn’t mean the 2022 midseason trade for him was a bad one. In fact, it paid off at the most crucial time.

Super Bowl LVII Hero

The Chiefs likely don’t win a very closely contested Super Bowl LVII without him.

In the Chiefs’ 38-35 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles, Toney scored a wide-open, five-yard touchdown with 12:04 left in the game on a play that had an incredible 11.2 yards of separation. That gave the Chiefs their first lead in the game.

Following the ensuing three-and-out by Philadelphia, Toney made one of the game-changing plays of Super Bowl LVII, returning a punt 65 yards to the Eagles’ five-yard-line. That was the longest punt return in Super Bowl history and set up the Chiefs’ final touchdown of the game.

Following what seemed like a breakout performance, the Chiefs expected big things from him heading into 2023, even viewing him as a potential No. 1 wide receiver.

Instead he missed all of training camp after having surgery for torn meniscus in his knee, and that was followed by a mistake-prone regular season.

Most egregiously, he dropped multiple passes, including one that led to a Brian Branch pick-six, in the Detroit Lions’ 21-20 upset victory in Week One. Against the Buffalo Bills, he lined up offside, negating a touchdown off a lateral from Travis Kelce.

His awful 2023 season featured just 27 catches for 169 yards and a touchdown.

Moreover, the Chiefs offense only seemed to find its footing after the team made him inactive.

The Chiefs survived a postseason gauntlet of the frigid battle against the Miami Dolphins, road games against the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens and an overtime Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers, and Toney did not even suit up in any of those games.

On his very first preseason play of 2024, Toney committed two penalties — he illegally covered up tight end Irv Smith Jr. and held on the perimeter for Deneric Prince.

Low-Risk Acquisition

But even if Toney was only a one-game addition, it was still an excellent move.

It cost little in terms in terms of both trade capital — a third-round pick and sixth-round pick — and money.

Still on his rookie deal, his salary and cap hit for 2022, 2023 and 2024 were $784,000, $1.907 million and $2.531 million, respectively.

While the Chiefs invested little in Toney, it’s the New York Giants who should have egg on their face.

They selected him 20th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. (Drafted three slots later was Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle Christian Darrisaw, who would have helped fix the protection problems, which have been an ongoing issue for New York.)

Toney started his last game in a Kansas City uniform — the Week Three preseason loss to the Chicago Bears — and looked good catching two passes, including one for 20 yards.

But the writing was on the wall. It’s never a good sign for a veteran if he’s starting the final preseason contest.

After that game Reid was asked about Toney’s status.

“We’ve never questioned the talent there at all,” he said. “It’s just him staying healthy was the main thing.”