Kadarius Toney trade from Giants nets Chiefs another talented weapon

When the Buffalo Bills inevitably play the Kansas City Chiefs again in the 2022 postseason, they’ll need to account for a new Chiefs weapon just acquired at the NFL trade deadline.

Per Jordan Schultz of theScore.com, the Chiefs are sending a conditional third-round pick and a sixth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to the New York Giants in exchange for wide receiver Kadarius Toney.

The Chiefs, who already boast arguably the NFL’s most prolific offense, add a highly talented and versatile receiver prospect in Toney, who was the No. 20 overall pick by the Giants in the 2021 NFL Draft.

In his first two seasons, Toney caught 41 passes for 420 yards, adding five carries for 29 yards on the ground, in just 12 total game appearances. He has currently missed five consecutive games due to a hamstring injury, but had also only played 35 total snaps in the two games he was healthy, seemingly falling out of favor a bit with a new Giants regime helmed by two former Bills employees, general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll.

Toney has just four touches for 23 total yards this season, but he was a first-round draft pick for a reason—and he joins a Chiefs team that has a burgeoning embarrassment of riches at the receiver position. JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Mecole Hardman combined for 14 receptions, 267 yards, and two touchdowns in the Chiefs’ Week 7 win over the San Francisco 49ers, with Hardman contributing another 28 yards with two touchdowns on the ground. The Chiefs did have some minor growing pains in their passing game as they adjusted to the offseason loss of Tyreek Hill, but their receiver group very much seems to be rounding into form.

For the Giants, this is a very Brandon Beane-esque trade for Schoen, who offloads an asset that the team didn’t have long-term plans for in return for multiple draft picks—one of which is a Day 2 asset. You may recall that Beane’s first year in Buffalo was highlighted by trading personnel assets for a slew of draft picks that were eventually packaged in a trade up for one Joshua Patrick Allen. Perhaps a similar playbook is being followed in New York.

Time will tell if the still-hobbled Toney can both heal and assimilate into the Andy Reid offense quickly enough to contribute for the 2022 version of the Chiefs. But for a rather cheap price, Patrick Mahomes was gifted another first-round receiving talent today.