Getty Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.
The Kansas City Chiefs conducted a bye week trade that sent a 2023 third-round pick and conditional sixth-round pick to the New York Giants in exchange for wide receiver Kadarius Toney, per NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero on October 27. Jordan Schultz of theScore was the first to report the trade.
Toney, 23, hasn’t played in a game since Week 2 due to a team-reported hamstring injury. However, he inadvertently revealed via a since-deleted tweet after being traded to the Chiefs that he is no longer injured.
Toney’s injury is now relevant to Chiefs Kingdom because it will dictate when he will take the field for the first time in a Chiefs uniform. That’s why it was one of the first things mentioned by head coach Andy Reid when asked about Toney during his first presser following the team’s bye week.
“I think that’s a nice addition by Brett (Veach),” Reid said on October 31 of Kansas City trading for Toney. “(Toney) is healthy right now, which is a good thing.”
So, it appears that Toney is healthy, which means he could play for the Chiefs as early as Week 9 against the Tennessee Titans.
Big Red Discusses Getting Toney in the Mix
With many mouths to feed in Kansas City’s passing attack, which includes but is not limited to Travis Kelce, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Mecole Hardman, Big Red vaguely discussed how the coaching staff will implement Toney into the offense.
“I look forward to getting (Toney) into the mix somehow,” Reid explained. “We’re working through that — we’re meeting as an offensive staff and going through those things now. So, we’ll just see how it sorts out here.
“We’ve got one football and we’ve got a few guys that we like to get the ball to, and we’ll just see how he fits in. I’m not expecting him to learn the whole offensive in a day. I think it’ll be a gradual process going forward even though he’s a smart kid. So, I’m sure he will pick it up relatively fast.”
Reid Speaks Highly of KC’s Veteran Receivers
During the Chiefs’ Week 7 win against the San Francisco 49ers, Smith-Schuster (7 catches, 124 yards, 1 touchdown), Valdes-Scantling (3 catches, 111 yards), and Hardman (6 total touches, 3 touchdowns) had their best outings of the season. Yet, the team traded for another wideout during the bye.
The addition of Toney had more to do with the team’s long-term plans at the position, however. Toney will take time to learn Kansas City’s system and the team has him locked up for at least two more years and for just $5.2 million guaranteed during that timeframe.
In the meantime, Reid spoke highly of the Chiefs’ veteran receivers coming off the bye week.
“The part I like the best is that they’ve made improvement every week,” Reid said of Kansas City’s receiver room. “They’re getting on the same page with quarterback every week, and a little bit better every week. And so… I like what I’m seeing. I like the strength JuJu’s playing with, the speed in which Marquez is playing. And obviously, with Mecole, he’s been doing a lot of different things for us and doing them well.”
The Chiefs’ Week 9 game will take place at Arrowhead Stadium against the Titans. The game will be played on Sunday, November 6 on Sunday Night Football.