The 2024 offseason will bring with it the ability for the Kansas City Chiefs to pick up or decline wide receiver Kadarius Toney‘s fifth-year option as part of his rookie contract.
According to PFF’s Brad Spielberger, who predicted fifth-year option decisions for all 32 NFL teams, the Chiefs aren’t projected to pick up Toney’s fifth-year option.
“Toney was a healthy scratch to close out the 2023 season for the Super Bowl champion Chiefs, and while the trade to acquire him was arguably worth it merely for two game-changing plays he made in the 2022 Super Bowl, there’s a very small chance this option will get exercised,” Spielberger wrote March 19.
Chiefs Are Giving Kadarius Toney One More Season to Prove His Worth
Kansas City declining Toney’s fifth-year option means they are essentially giving Toney one more season — the 2024 season — to impress them before he takes to free agency in 2025. If Toney performs well enough next season to the point where the Chiefs want to retain him, Kansas City would then likely have to give Toney a multi-year contract.
If that projection is wrong and the two-time defending Super Bowl champions do pick up Toney’s fifth-year option in what would be a stunning maneuver, Toney would have a base salary of $14.4 million in 2025 and his cap hit would be equal to that, per Spotrac.
Toney’s time in Kansas City has been rocky, to say the least. His on-the-field production has ranged from clutch Super Bowl moments to chronic drops. Then there’s the off-the-field stuff, which came in different forms such as public accusations against the team and fueling drama with the fan base of his former team — the New York Giants.
So, Spielberger is right to predict that the Chiefs won’t guarantee themselves two more years of the Kadarius Toney experiment.
As a team that is still looking to add to its receiver room even after adding veteran Marquise “Hollywood” Brown on a one-year deal, the Chiefs would likely welcome Toney back to the team in 2025 if he played exceptionally during the 2024 season. For the right price, of course.
But for that to happen, Toney would need to show a much more consistent level of production than he has shown since he entered the NFL in 2021.
The Chiefs have until May 2 to pick up Toney’s fifth-year option, per NFL Media.
Patrick Mahomes Already Working With Hollywood Brown
Speaking of Chiefs receivers who are in a prove-it year in Kansas City — Brown is already in Texas working out with quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The two Kansas City players as well as second-year wideout Rashee Rice were seen together in photos shared by Mahomes on his Instagram.
Rashee Rice really pulled up in this @PatrickMahomes shirt. 😅
(via @PatrickMahomes)
Brown officially signed with the Chiefs on March 18, so he wasted little time since then in getting together with his new QB.
“From the outside looking in he seems like a guy that is very passionate, and I’m a very passionate person,” Brown said of Mahomes during his introductory press conference on March 18. “He wants to win, (he’ll) do everything necessary to win. That’s somebody you want to play with, you want to play with someone who will bring the best out of you that’s going to push your game to the next level. I feel like he’s definitely one of those types of guys.”
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Chiefs Expected to Set Soft Deadline for Final Decision on WR Kadarius Toney