Things have officially reached a boiling point between the New York Giants and Kadarius Toney.
According to Pat Leonard of The New York Daily News, the Giants are looking to trade Toney, the second-year wide receiver who was taken with the No. 20 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft.
“League sources tell me the Giants are taking calls to see what they can get for the No. 20 overall pick from a year ago,” Leonard said via Tik Tok on Friday, April 22. “Toney obviously had a tumultuous rookie season and now has not shown up for the start of first year coach Brian Daboll’s program. Obviously he has talent….but it looks like the Giants are close to moving on from Kadarius Toney.”
Toney has drawn negative attention to himself recently after not showing up to voluntary workouts of first year head coach Brian Daboll’s offseason program.
But Toney’s absence is the least of his issues. Leonard detailed some additional antics from the University of Florida product’s rookie season with the Giants.
“There was some internal momentum for bailing on Toney during his tumultuous rookie season a year ago. His commitment came into question behind the scenes during his rookie year due to lack of playbook study, poor meeting behavior and frequent injuries.”
Toney showed flashes of promise last season, hauling in 39 catches for 420 yards. However, he did not record a touchdown and was limited to just 10 games due to shoulder and oblique injuries, as well as a bout with COVID-19. Toney missed a significant portion of training camp as a result of COVID-19 and a hamstring issue.
Former Giants general manager Dave Gettleman opted to swap the No. 11 pick with the Chicago Bears to gain the No. 20 overall selection and a 2022 first-round pick as well. Instead of staying at No. 11 to potentially grab eventual All-Pros Micah Parsons or Rashawn Slater, the Giants moved back to take Toney and a future first-rounder instead. Now, new GM Joe Schoen will attempt to ship Toney out of town after one season.
The Timing
When the Giants drafted Toney last year, they were anticipating the wideout would become one of the franchise’s future cornerstone players.
Unfortunately, Toney has been injury prone and it seems like his character issues will ultimately end his tenure in New York, before it really got started.
As for the timing of these trade rumors, the NFL draft is six days away, which means the Giants can potentially acquire draft capital in exchange for Toney. But the character concerns will only hurt Toney’s trade value. Despite being a talented receiver, Toney struggled to stay on the field and has shown a reluctance to get on board with the team’s philosophy since entering the building in 2021.
Golladay Weighs in
While Toney, now on the trading block, has been a no-show for the Giants’ offseason program, another star wide receiver on the roster has taken a different approach.
Kenny Golladay, who had a disappointing first season in New York in 2021 after signing a massive four-year, $72 million contract last offseason, stressed the importance of showing up at this point on the calendar. Unlike Toney, Golladay feels that It’s crucial to attend the Giants’ voluntary workouts.
“I guess you could just say that’s how much it means to me, especially coming off last season,” Golladay said Wednesday of the offseason program. “Just trying to start off on a good note. I feel like everyone should definitely be here.
“There’s a lot of energy going around. People are actually excited. People are actually ready to be back. After last year, leaves a bad taste in your mouth that you want to get out. I know for me at least, I was ready to get started.”
When asked directly about Toney’s absence, Golladay was optimistic that the second-year receiver would come along if he and Sterling Shepard reached out to him.
“I haven’t talked to him in a while, but I’m pretty sure he had something going on,” Golladay told reporters of Toney. “I’m sure he’s getting into his playbook and am pretty sure he has talked to the coaches….If I talk to Shep and we holler at him a little bit, I think he’ll definitely listen to us.”
Golladay did not record a touchdown in 2021. Across 14 games, the 29-year-old hauled in 37 passes for 521 yards. And although the Giants were expecting more production out of their big-splash free agent signing, it sounds like the veteran wideout is at least motivated to bounce-back next season.
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Giants Looking to Trade First-Rounder After 1 Season: Report