Kadarius Toney’s sometimes encouraging, often infuriating run with the Kansas City Chiefs is over. The team’s top decision-maker appears to have no regrets.
Two days after the Chiefs waived the former first-round pick before the NFL roster deadline, general manager Brett Veach He told reporters I would gladly exchange it for another time:
“I don’t think we’d be here hoping to win a third straight Super Bowl if we hadn’t 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 with a lot of potential and little consistency, particularly when it comes to health.
Toney’s job description for the Chiefs for the rest of the season could best be described as “second-string player” or “depth receiver.” He recorded 171 receiving yards and three total touchdowns in seven games, but then became a Super Bowl hero with a record-setting touchdown on a punt return.
There was always hope that Toney would bounce back and become the WR1 the Chiefs were looking for after the Tyreek Hill trade, but he was never more than a secondary player on offense and had more than his share of mistakes. When the Chiefs added wide receivers like Marquise Brown, Xavier Worthy and Juju Smith-Schuster this offseason to fill a room that also includes Rashee Rice and Justin Watson, there wasn’t much room left for Toney.
As Veach put it, the team simply could never take advantage of that talent:
“It’s always disappointing when a player’s tenure comes to an end in that situation, which means there will be players who age out of it, there will be players who maybe have a very serious injury and then there will be players who get rid of them who just didn’t have the talent. I think when you have to let go of a player and the finished product, without taking advantage of that talent, there’s a disappointment.
“I think it works both ways. I’m sure I would do some things differently as far as some of the offseason and body care.”
Veach went on to say that Toney was a “very smart kid” and “a lot of fun to be around.” He also wished him well and said he believed he could be successful on another team.
One of the luxuries of winning back-to-back Super Bowls is that it’s pretty hard to regret any decision made in that span, especially when the product of one of those decisions scored a touchdown in the Super Bowl. So it’s understandable that the Chiefs aren’t too worried about this failure.