With the Thursday deadline for NFL teams to pick up fifth-year player options, the Kansas City Chiefs made their decision on Wide Receiver, Kadarius Toney.
The NFL set a Thursday deadline for franchises to pick up the fifth-year player option on former 2021 first-round picks. The Kansas City Chiefs had a decision to make about Wide Receiver Kadarius Toney. Despite the fact that both Head Coach Andy Reid and General Manager Brett Veach have praised their young receiver this off-season, they declined his 2025 player option.
The Chiefs’ decision to decline Toney’s option was easy. Had they guaranteed his salary for the 2025 season, it would have cost them $14.4 million, and that’s not a price you pay for a player who has yet to establish himself in the NFL.
There’s no question that Toney has extreme talent. I can see what Reid sees in him, and the potential to be great lies within his desire to break the stigma that he’s not an NFL force at the receiver position. Yet, even with enormous talent, he’s only shown flashes of greatness.
Last season’s disappearance from the offense was difficult for both Toney and the Chiefs. It started when he tore his meniscus on the first day of training camp, and from that point, it went downhill, and ultimately, he became a healthy scratch in the postseason.
Toney, to his credit, has been working at Camp Mahomes and seems dedicated to resurrecting his career in Kansas City. If he plays well this season, he’s just 25 years old, and he could earn a new contract with the Chiefs.
His arc to riches begins with his willingness to work harder than he has in his NFL career. Last season, he saw firsthand that this team won’t give up on players, but if the combination of work ethic and desire to be great doesn’t correlate in the offense, you sit on the bench.
It’s hard to say what happened at the end of the season with his injuries, bad attitude, or the fact that he was in Reid’s doghouse. However, Toney has enough talent that he could give the Chiefs offense a big boost and insurance against a long Rashee Rice suspension if he plays like he did in 2022.
For now, he has to prove to his head coach and his star quarterback that he can be counted on to make plays in big moments. He was the star of Super Bowl LVII against the Philadelphia Eagles and that’s what he has to carry forward.
