Kadarius Toney’s sometimes encouraging, often infuriating career with the Kansas City Chiefs is over. The team’s primary decision-maker doesn’t seem to regret it.
Two days after the Chiefs waived the former first-round pick ahead of the NFL roster deadline, general manager Brett Veach told reporters he would gladly trade for him again:
“I don’t think we’re sitting here going for a third straight Super Bowl had we not made that trade. So, from that standpoint, we’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.”
Kansas City acquired Toney during the 2022-23 season, sending a third and sixth round pick to the New York Giants in exchange for a player high on potential and low on consistency, particularly when it came to health.
Toney’s job description for the Chiefs over the rest of the season could be best described as either “gadget player” or “depth wide receiver.” He posted 171 receiving yards and three total touchdowns in seven games, but then became a Super Bowl hero with a record punt return touchdown.
There was always a hope Toney would put it together and become the WR1 the Chiefs were in search for after the Tyreek Hill trade, but he was never more than a minor role player on offense, and had well more than his share of miscues. When the Chiefs brought in wideouts like Marquise Brown, Xavier Worthy and Juju Smith-Schuster this offseason to fill out a room that also includes Rashee Rice and Justin Watson, there wasn’t much room left for Toney.
As Veach put it, the team was just never able to tap that talent:
“It’s always disappointing when a player’s tenure comes to an end in that situation, meaning you will have players that the age catches up to them, you’ll have players where maybe it’s a really serious injury, and then you’ll have players that you move on from where the talent just wasn’t there. I think when you have to move on from a player and the finished product, untapping that talent wasn’t realized, there’s a disappointment.
“I think it goes both ways. I’m certainly sure there would be things he would do different in regards to some of the offseason stuff and taking care of the body.”
Veach went on to call Toney a “really smart kid” and said “he was actually a lot of fun to be around.” He also wished him well and said he believed he could find success with another team.
A luxury of winning back-to-back Super Bowls is it’s pretty hard to regret any decision made across that span, especially when the product of one such decision scored a Super Bowl touchdown. So it’s understandable why the Chiefs wouldn’t be sweating this misfire too much.