Chiefs trade for wide receiver Kadarius Toney from Giants

The Kansas City Chiefs are trading for now-former New York Giants wide receiver Kadarius Toney, as first reported by NFL insider Jordan Schultz. A source confirmed the trade to Arrowhead Pride.

Toney, 23, entered the league as the No. 20 overall pick made by the New York Giants during the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Appearing in only 10 games during his rookie season (due to placement on the COVID-19 list and injuries), the 6-foot, 193-pound receiver caught 39 passes for 420 yards. A hamstring issue has limited him to just two games in 2022. He has made just two receptions.

To acquire Toney, the Chiefs sent their third-round compensatory pick as well as a sixth-round pick to the Giants, meaning they still have picks in the first, second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds, as well as two fourth-rounders.

Obviously, Toney is still signed to his rookie contract, which means he comes with cap hits of $1.9 million in 2023, $2.4 million in 2024 and — if he performs to the Chiefs’ liking — the club will have the option to retain him in 2025 because he was a first-round pick.

But in 2022, his total cap hit to the Chiefs will be just $784,000, because the team will only have to carry his base salary for the final 10 weeks of the season.

How Toney fits into the Chiefs’ offense remains to be seen. But it is a fair bet that Chiefs general manager Brett Veach and his staff were high on his size and sub-4.4 40-yard dash time ahead of last year’s NFL Draft. Injuries have been an issue, but the Chiefs have always shown trust in their athletic training team to get players right. Should Toney find his health, this could eventually wind up being a steal for the Chiefs.

The wide receiver room now includes Toney, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mecole Hardman, Skyy Moore and Justin Watson.

(We have found highlights of Toney here.)