Chiefs Wave WR Toney – It was well known around the league that his days in ‘Chiefs’ Kingdom’ were numbered. Tuesday, they laid the hammer down. Kadarius Toney’s time with the Kansas City Chiefs is over.
The Chiefs waived Toney on Tuesday afternoon prior to the NFL’s roster deadline, according to the NFL Network’s insider Ian Rapoport.
Toney played in 13 games for the defending champion Chiefs in 2023, but he was eerily quiet like a ghost, recording only 169 yards and one score on 27 receptions. The Chiefs acquired Toney during the 2022 campaign in a deal with the New York ‘Football’ Giants, who selected him with the No. 20 overall pick in the 2021 draft out of the University of Florida.
Toney went through a sever case of the drops and had countless high-profile mistakes last season with the Chiefs. He mishandled several passes, including one that was picked off and returned to the house for a touchdown in their one-point loss to the Detroit Lions in their season opener on Thursday Night Football and another on the final drive of that game. He also scored the winning touchdown after catching a lateral from tight end Travis Kelce in their emotional matchup against their rival Buffalo Bills last fall, but the play was called back after he was determined to be offsides, which led to the Chiefs losing that game.
Toney had a pass intercepted off a deflection the following week, which turned out to be his last game of the year suiting up for the Chiefs. He did not take the field at all with his teammates during their Super Bowl run, and the Chiefs said thanks but no thanks when it was time to pick up the fifth-year option on his contract earlier this offseason.
Toney started a social media war with the Chiefs during their title run last season. He was ruled out of several games with a mysterious hip injury, but Toney said on a brief social media clip that the Chiefs were not being honest and forthcoming about his injury status. Head coach Andy Reid emphatically denied those claims, and Toney later walked them back to save face.
It is up in the air where Toney’s next NFL home will be, or if he will find a new team before the start of the season. The 25-year-old has a pedestrian 760 receiving yards and three total touchdowns over his three seasons in the league.
The Chiefs, who are coming off back-to-back Super Bowl wins, will open their season against two-time MVP Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens on September 5.
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Dolphins’ OBJ to Miss at Least First Four Games – Could this be the beginning of the end for a fan favorite? Odell Beckham Jr.’s quiet, but strange offseason will carry over into late September at least.
Beckham will remain on the physically unable to perform list (PUP) to begin the regular season, meaning he will be sidelined for the first four games of the 2024 season, NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport reported.
Beckham’s lengthy stay on the PUP list is the result of an offseason surgery he underwent, of which the organization was aware of when they signed the 31-year-old veteran receiver, according to Pelissero. Beckham has worked tirelessly toward returning to his sanctuary, but the Dolphins are choosing to protect him from himself and taking the cautious route by allowing Beckham another month to ease his way back into football related activities before putting him back in the lion’s den, and expecting him to handle the rigors of the regular season.
Anytime Beckham chooses a new football home, it creates buzz and moves the needle. That has been the case since his trade to Cleveland, his subsequent move to the Los Angeles Rams where he won a Super Bowl, his 2022 season spent out of football, but not without courting with a few teams, most notably the Dallas Cowboys and his decision to join Baltimore in 2023. His move to the ‘305’Miami was no different, but because he has been out of commission, his presence on the roster has equaled that of a ghost, at least when it comes to on-field activities. Beckham has not participated in Dolphins practice since camp opened and spent each preseason game sidelined wearing a visor, watching his teammates while the matter remained unaddressed otherwise.
Now, there is some clarity on the issue. All that is left to do is for Dolphins fans to exercise patience and wait for Beckham to return, at which point everyone will learn whether he can play a role in Miami’s explosive offense featuring Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, or if his best days are truly behind him.
