Kansas City Chiefs Swing for the Fences by Acquiring New York Giants WR Kadarius Toney

The Kansas City Chiefs acquired WR Kadarius Toney from the New York Giants in exchange for a conditional third-round pick and a sixth-round pick. The deal serves as a win-win for both franchises.

The NFL trade market has been on fire the past couple of weeks with a number of big trades going down. The likes of Christian McCaffrey, Robert Quinn, Robbie Anderson, and James Robinson all found new homes in October. The latest trade is an interesting one to say the least.

The 5-2 Kansas City Chiefs, led by Patrick Mahomes, just added another playmaker to their arsenal. JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling have been mostly inconsistent in terms of production, and second-round pick Skyy Moore is still learning the ropes.

Mecole Hardman has been the most productive playmaker from the receiver group. In the last three contests for the Chiefs, Hardman found the end zone four times in a variety of ways.

General manager Brett Veach sent a conditional third- and sixth-round pick to New York, and in return, he received a player that was deemed worthy of a day one selection in 2021. It makes sense for the Giants too, because this current regime did not draft Kadarius Toney.

Kadarius Toney starred for the Florida Gators during his collegiate days and broke out in his final season in Gainesville. With Kyle Trask and Kyle Pitts, the trio formed a dominant attack on the offensive side of the ball.

Former Giants general manager, Dave Gettleman, used the No. 20 overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft on the game breaker out of Florida. Unfortunately, Toney’s rookie year was marred by injury. To his credit, he was productive when on the field.

In 2022, it has been more of the same for Toney on the injury front. He’s dealt with hamstring issues on-and-off and has only taken snaps in two games thus far. It makes sense for the Giants to do this because, while they are contending this year, they just added future draft capital by moving a player that wasn’t in their long-term plans.

On the Chiefs end, this is a relative no-brainer as well. The unit could greatly benefit from the addition of a player like Kadarius Toney. Toney possesses 4.39 speed according to his Pro-Day numbers, but straight-line speed is not where he makes his mark. The shifty pass catcher thrives most by breaking down defenders with the ball in his hands.

Mecole Hardman is capable of doing this at times, but there is nowhere near enough explosive play ability in the offense right now. Patrick Mahomes is proving that he can win in any fashion, but selfishly, I miss some of the big plays to Tyreek Hill. Toney isn’t Reek, but he can embarrass defenses in a similar way when healthy.

Toney’s career stat line consists of 12 games played. In those contests, Toney caught 41 of his 60 targets. He turned those catches into 420 receiving yards, good for a shade over 10 yards per reception. Toney has yet to find the end zone in his short career.

The writing has been on the wall that a Kadarius Toney was possible, if not probable. The new regime, under the guidance of general manager Joe Schoen, drafted their own version of Toney by getting Wan’Dale Robinson in the 2022 NFL Draft. With Robinson’s emergence the past two weeks, this trade comes as no surprise.

The Chiefs swooped in and acquired a new high-potential pass catcher for pennies on the dollar. Toney is still dealing with the aforementioned hamstring injury, and after admitting he rushed back earlier than he should have, look for Kansas City to execute extreme caution. Andy Reid’s crew just got better in January. That’s what really matters.