Kadarius Toney has found a new home midway through his second season in the NFL.
The New York Giants are trading the speedy wide receiver to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for a 2023 third-round compensatory pick and a 2023 sixth-round pick, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported Thursday, per a source. Pelissero added the third-rounder is not conditional. The trade became official Thursday afternoon, per the league transaction wire.
A first-round pick by the Giants in 2021, Toney's short time in New York had its fair share of frustrations. Injuries have limited the 23-year-old to just 12 games in his career, and an ongoing hamstring injury has prevented Toney from hitting the field since Week 2 of this season. Toney had been the subject of trade rumors in the lead-up to the 2022 season because of his underwhelming tenure in New York.
Toney has 41 receptions for 420 yards in his career so far, and a large chunk of those numbers were achieved in a 2021 Week 5 game against the Cowboys where he caught 10 balls for 189 yards. Toney exited his career-best outing after being ejected for throwing a punch late in the blowout loss.
While new Giants coach Brian Daboll has had too few chances to unlock Toney's potential, the offensive-minded coach was limiting his snaps in two games this season, and the wideout only touched the ball on designed sweeps.
"We just thought it was for the best of the team," coach Brian Daboll told reporters of Toney's trade on Thursday.
When healthy, Toney has flashed the speed and elusiveness he consistently showed in college at the University of Florida. Adding an explosive playmaker who can line up anywhere on the field, Kansas City's high-flying offense is poised to utilize Toney's deep-threat capabilities and his speed threat out of the backfield.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes certainly approves of his newest weapon:
The Chiefs, who received two compensatory picks for losing Ryan Poles to the Bears' general manager job, turn one of them (plus a sixth-rounder) into a former first-round pick with upside.
Kansas City's newest reclamation project should make things exciting for an offense that revamped its receiving corps this offseason following the Tyreek Hill trade. The Chiefs currently rank first in the NFL in points per game (31.9) and second in the league in yards per game (403.3) and passing yards per game (296.0).
Toney may very well be Hill 2.0 given his physical makeup and elusiveness in space. The Chiefs have the right minds on the sidelines to get him there, but Toney will first need to get himself back to full health before we see how Andy Reid and his staff apply their newest offensive threat.
