Just when many started to underestimate them, the Kansas City Chiefs proved they continued to be the best team in the NFL by winning the Super Bowl for the second straight season in 2023. And general manger Brett Veach wants to achieve even more success.
The team is now on a bigger mission, which is to achieve an unprecedented three-peat. Tough decisions had to be made in order to try and assemble the best possible roster, and that included parting with many players who celebrated the Super Bowl in February.
One of them was Kadarius Toney, who was released before the roster cuts last week. Speaking to the media about this decision, Veach admitted the team isn’t happy with how things went with the wide receiver.
“I mean, look, I think we’re certainly disappointed. I think he’s disappointed,” Veach said of Toney, though he heaped praise on the wideout. “We really like the kid, and I know that people could have different takes on Kadarius, but I know in this building, he’s a bright kid. He’s a smart kid. I think when you look back on it, some of the stuff is, is a stroke of bad luck in regards to some of the injuries you can’t control, like walking out the first day of training camp last year and tearing his MCL.”
Kansas City Chiefs WR Kadarius Toney celebrating a catch.
Kadarius Toney’s lackluster 2023 season with Chiefs
Toney was troubled by injuries throughout the 2023 NFL season, having undergone knee surgery at the beginning of training camp. In the end, the Chiefs couldn’t find in him the weapon they needed for Mahomes.
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With just 27 catches for 169 yards and a touchdown, Toney’s production at Arrowhead last year didn’t go to plan. In fact, he’s been part of a struggling WR room that failed to help Mahomes throughout the 2023 season.
The Chiefs gave up a third and a sixth-round pick to get Toney from the New York Giants in 2022. Even so, Veach has made it clear he has no regrets about making that trade.
“I don’t think we’re sitting here going for a third straight Super Bowl. Had we not made that trade,” said Veach. “So from that standpoint, do it all over again in a heartbeat. I think it’s always disappointing when a player’s tenure ends in that situation, meaning you will have players that the age catches up to them. You’ll have players where maybe it’s a really serious injury, and then you’ll have players that you move on from where the talent just wasn’t there. So I think when you have to move on from a player, and the full product, or the finished product, or untapping all that talent wasn’t realized, there’s a disappointment.”
