KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two weeks ago, receiver Kadarius Toney was in his practice uniform alongside many of his teammates. The Kansas City Chiefs were in the middle of a padded practice in the final week of training camp and the day’s most important period had arrived: the long-drive drill, the uptempo session in which coach Andy Reid has the projected starters do 16 consecutive repetitions, starting with the ball on the 1-yard line.
Toney waited and waited and waited. He never left the sideline, even when the second- and third-teamers had their reps. Toney watched fellow receivers Skyy Moore, Justyn Ross and Nikko Remigio — all of whom were battling for one of the final spots on the Chiefs’ initial 53-man roster — get targeted in preparation for the team’s preseason finale against the Detroit Lions.
The moment served as the first major indication that the Chiefs were preparing themselves to move on from Toney, the 2021 first-round pick they acquired in 2022 through a midseason trade with the New York Giants.
“Justyn is making plays; he’s out there and he made a great catch down the sideline,” offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said two weeks ago when asked for his evaluation of Ross and Toney. “He’s just continuing to grow and not make the same mistake twice. I love his attitude and he’s been very involved and really enjoying this process.”
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Then Nagy turned to Toney: “And then Kadarius, it’s just making sure he’s just got to get healthy and get out there so that we can see him and see the reps.”
The Chiefs ended their partnership with Toney on Tuesday afternoon as they trimmed their roster from 90 players to 53.
Before waiving Toney, the Chiefs tried to trade him, according to a league source, a move that would have saved $2.53 million in salary-cap space. If no team claims Toney off waivers Wednesday, the Chiefs will incur a dead-cap hit of $2.53 million, which was set to be Toney’s salary for the final year of his rookie contract.
“He’s a talented kid,” Reid said last week. “He’s battled to make the team. We’ve never questioned the talent there at all. It’s just him staying healthy was the main thing.”
#Chiefs Kadarius Toney in running back drills.. this one, a speed option drill with Patrick Mahomes.. pic.twitter.com/h94C43O4X7
— PJ Green (@ByPJGreen) July 21, 2024
The partnership between the Chiefs and Toney was turbulent during their 22 months together.
In late October 2022, the Chiefs sent the Giants a compensatory 2023 third-round pick and a 2023 sixth-round pick for Toney. The Chiefs were acquiring Toney with at least two more years on his rookie contract — plus the fifth-year option.
Before the 2021 draft, Reid and general manager Brett Veach coveted Toney’s speed, elusiveness and skills as a punt returner. But the Chiefs spent their first-round pick in a trade with the Baltimore Ravens to acquire left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. At the time, Veach told his personnel staff they should consider trading up in the second round if Toney, who ran the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds, was available. The Giants, however, took him 20th overall.
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In just his second game with the Chiefs, Toney produced what wound up being his most complete performance in a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, producing 90 all-purpose yards and a touchdown on just six touches.
The two biggest moments in Toney’s four-year career came on the sport’s biggest stage: Super Bowl LVII. In the fourth quarter of the Chiefs’ comeback win over the Philadelphia Eagles, Toney scored on a wide-open 5-yard touchdown. Later, he delivered a pivotal 65-yard punt return, the longest in Super Bowl history, to set up another Chiefs touchdown. After the game, Toney called Reid the smartest coach in the league.
“I’m just grateful for the organization for really accepting me and letting me be the player I can be,” Toney said then. “The environment is just life-changing, just the energy you feel in the building day in and day out. It’s different.”
How did Toney break out of this?!
📺: #SBLVII on FOX
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/d8gBDzRt2m pic.twitter.com/2TmFv8bedw— NFL (@NFL) February 13, 2023
Toney’s time in Kansas City after that game was a disappointment.
Last year, the Chiefs didn’t acquire a receiver in the offseason because Reid and Veach expected Toney to emerge as their No. 1 receiver.
“You saw the upside last year with how special of a talent he can be,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said of Toney in April 2023. “To have him working with Coach Reid and how we practice in training camp, I think he’ll have his body in the best shape he can possibly be in to be healthy all season long.”
But minutes into the opening practice of camp, Toney damaged the meniscus in his knee when he tried to change directions after catching a punt, an injury that required surgery and forced him to miss camp and the preseason. He returned in time for the Chiefs’ season opener, but his performance was disastrous. Toney dropped four catchable passes in the Chiefs’ loss, including one in which the ball went through his hands and directly to Lions safety Brian Branch, who returned the interception 50 yards for a touchdown in a game the Chiefs lost by one point.
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Later in the season, in a loss to the Buffalo Bills, Toney committed an offside penalty that cost the Chiefs a go-ahead touchdown.
In the following game against the New England Patriots, the Chiefs had a commanding 17-point lead and had the ball in the fourth quarter. Mahomes told his teammates in the huddle to protect the ball. The first play of the drive ended with an interception when a short pass to Toney bounced off his hands and into those of linebacker Jahlani Tavai. Mahomes stormed off the field and to the Chiefs’ sideline. When he sat down on the bench, he screamed loud enough for all of his teammates to hear him.
“I just f——- said it, man!” Mahomes said.
This was Patrick Mahomes’ reaction after Kadarius Toney dropped a pass that ended up being picked off by the Patriots. pic.twitter.com/lYA3DqB02H
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 17, 2023
Toney never played another snap for the rest of the season. In 20 games for the Chiefs, Toney recorded 41 receptions for 340 yards and scored four total touchdowns.
The Chiefs won four postseason games without Toney to become the NFL’s first back-to-back champion in two decades. Even during that stretch, though, Toney made another mistake, one he acknowledged just days before Super Bowl LVIII. Just hours before the Chiefs played the Ravens in the AFC Championship Game, Toney, in a rant on Instagram Live, expressed that he didn’t have the hip or ankle injuries the Chiefs had listed him with. The day before the game, the Chiefs listed Toney as out because of personal reasons and a hip injury.
“I’m not hurt, none of that s—!” Toney shouted on Instagram Live.
Toney wasn’t on the Chiefs’ injury report ahead of the Super Bowl. He was a full participant when the team was in Las Vegas.
“I’m doing everything I can to show that I’m an asset,” Toney said in early February, the last time he spoke with reporters.
In an interview with Michael Robinson, Chiefs WR Kadarius Toney explains his bizarre Instagram Live video, which went up on the day of the AFC Championship Game. pic.twitter.com/vuLvDpujnm
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 6, 2024
When camp began in July, Toney’s chances of making the Chiefs’ initial roster were slim. To increase his value, Toney split some of his repetitions in camp working as a running back.
But he missed a week of practices with an ankle injury, then missed the Chiefs’ preseason opener with a back injury.
Toney’s first snap of the preseason, against the Lions, was dreadful: He committed two penalties, as he covered the tight end, Irv Smith Jr., and then held cornerback Khalil Dorsey while trying to block on the perimeter for running back Deneric Prince.
When the Chiefs signed veteran receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster on Monday, the move all but assured that Toney would not be on the initial roster.
“I just try to remain the player I can be at all times, regardless of what anybody says,” Toney said early February. “(I’m taking) a humbled approach. Whenever my opportunity comes, I’m going to be there.”
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Other roster moves
Two undrafted rookies, fullback Carson Steele and cornerback Chris Roland-Wallace, earned a spot on the Chiefs’ initial roster. Steele and Roland-Wallace could both be in uniform on opening night when the Chiefs host the Ravens because of their value on special teams.
The Chiefs waived running back Louis Rees-Zammit, one of the former leading wingers in world rugby. Rees-Zammit finished the preseason with seven touches for 25 all-purpose yards and a tackle on special teams. As a kickoff returner, he averaged 31.5 yards. Rees-Zammit left Monday’s practice with a back injury. If no team claims him off waivers, the Chiefs hope to sign Rees-Zammit to their practice squad.
The Chiefs also want to add Ross and Remigio to their practice squad, along with young players such as Prince, quarterback Chris Oladokun and linebacker Swayze Bozeman.
Late Monday night, the Chiefs acquired defensive end Cam Thomas from the Arizona Cardinals for a 2025 seventh-round pick.
In a minor surprise Tuesday, the Chiefs released veteran tight end Irv Smith Jr. They needed the spot for tight end Peyton Hendershot, whom they acquired from the Dallas Cowboys for a 2026 conditional seventh-round pick.
(Photo: Perry Knotts / Getty Images)
