Kadarius Toney‘s tenure with the Kansas City Chiefs was vacillated between his athleticism paying dividends in the biggest moments of the biggest games and largely failing to live up to the expectations of being a former first-round draft choice.
This week, prior to the deadline for teams to trim their rosters to 53 players for the upcoming season, the Chiefs released Toney among the roster cuts.
Toney’s tumultuous season-and-a-half with the Chiefs ends with the former No. 20 overall pick of the New York Giants catching just 41 passes for 340 yards and three touchdowns.
However, Toney made arguably the biggest and most consequential catch of his career when he pulled down a five-yard touchdown reception from Patrick Mahomes as one of the catalysts in Kansas City’s Super Bowl victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Toney also returned a punt to the five-yard line which blew the game wide open, fueling Kansas City’s eventual 38-35 win.
Despite the lack of production in the regular season, including dropped passes in critical junctures of games last season, and injuries that cut into his playing time, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach views Toney’s time in Kansas City as a success.
“I don’t think we’re sitting here going for a 3rd straight Super Bowl without that trade,” Veach told reporters.
The Chiefs originally acquired Toney in exchange for the No. 100 and 209 overall picks in the 2023 draft.
While there is always the chance Kansas City wouldn’t have beaten the Eagles had it not been for Toney handing the Chiefs prime field position in a big spot, or without his touchdown reception, it’s difficult to overlook Patrick Mahomes as the driving force behind all three of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl wins.
