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Adam Teicher, ESPN Staff Writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chiefs declined Thursday to exercise the fifth-year option for the 2025 season on the contract of wide receiver Kadarius Toney, a source told ESPN, giving him one more season remaining on the deal he signed with the New York Giants as a first-round draft pick in 2021.
Toney was traded to the Chiefs the next year.
Both general manager Brett Veach and coach Andy Reid recently indicated Toney was in the Chiefs’ plans this season.
“I don’t think we ever stopped believing in him,” Veach said shortly before the draft. “I think people around the building like him. It’s the injury bug. Hopefully, he gets some luck on his side and can stay healthy and can be the player that he was at Florida and the player that we’ve seen in spurts here. I’m just hoping he has a good offseason and has a little luck on his side and can stay healthy.”
With the Chiefs counting on him for big production, Toney had a disappointing 2023 season. He tore a meniscus fielding kicks at the start of the first practice of training camp, leading him to miss the remainder of camp.
He had surgery and returned for the season opener, but his deflection of a catchable pass to a defender who returned it for a touchdown was a key play in a one-point loss to the Detroit Lions.
Injuries continued for Toney the rest of the season. The Chiefs listed him on their weekly injury report for 19 of their 21 games, counting the postseason.
Toney played in 13 games but had just 27 catches for 169 yards and a touchdown.
Toney’s other notable plays during the season were costly to the Chiefs. He appeared to score the winning touchdown after taking a lateral from Travis Kelce late in a Week 14 game against the Buffalo Bills, but the play was wiped out when Toney was penalized for being offside and the Chiefs wound up losing the game.
He again deflected a catchable pass to a defender for an interception the next week against the New England Patriots and he didn’t play the rest of the season, including the postseason.
The Chiefs’ major free agent acquisition, Marquise Brown, and their first-round draft pick, Xavier Worthy, are wide receivers.
