Will the Chiefs look to deal from a deep WR position?
Patrick Mahomes has done pretty well the last two seasons despite working with marginal wide receivers. But in 2024, Mahomes may get back closer to what he had when Tyreek Hill wore Kansas City Chiefs red. And the position improvements mean a pair of wideouts could be trade candidates entering the 2024 training camp.
With a deep receiving group, the Chiefs could shore up other areas by entertaining offers for Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore. A third trade candidate comes from the tight end position, where Irv Smith Jr. could be on the block.
Chiefs WR Kadarius Toney could be on the move again
When you’re a former first-round pick, you tend to get the benefit of the doubt. NFL general managers tend to think they’re the smartest guy in the room, and their coach can get something out of a player other teams couldn’t find.
That’s one reason the Chiefs might consider dealing the underachieving Toney. First, it would take him off their hands. And if they could get something of value at weaker position, it makes a lot of sense.
Toney is not available very often. He played 10 games in 2021 as a rookie with the Giants. He suited up nine total times with the Giants and Chiefs in 2022. And last year he played in 13 games but started only twice.
And the numbers haven’t been good. He hasn’t been able to match his rookie totals of 39 catches for 420 yards. And digging deeper, 189 of those yards came in one game against the Dallas Cowboys in 2021.
So if a team wants to trade for Toney, it will pay purely the price of potential because there’s not much else to work with in terms of statistics. Perhaps the Chiefs could rely on the way Toney looks when everything in is sync. Selective video editing shows a player who looks like a quality NFL receiver.
However, along with durability issues, Toney struggled with drops in 2023. In the season opener, he dropped multiple passes and remained part of a team-wide issue with that statistics throughout the season.
Another reason the Chiefs could look to trade him is his contract. Toney is in the final year of his rookie deal, due for a base salary of $2.53 million. If the Chiefs picked up his fifth-year option this offseason, they would pay $14.435 million in 2025. Nobody’s touching that kind of deal with Toney.
And the final thumbtack on the bulletin board is the Chiefs added Marquise Brown and drafted Xavier Worthy with their first pick in the 2024 draft.
Skyy no longer the limit for Chiefs?
When talking about trade candidates and listing Kadarius Toney, it’s almost a requirement to include Skyy Moore. In some ways, they’re the same player.
Also a high draft pick, Moore went No.54 overall in the second round of 2022. And like Toney, his numbers don’t elicit hopes of great things to come. Moore caught 33 passes in 2022 and 38 last year. His yardage-total finishes came in at 250 and 244. And he has just one touchdown to his name.
At 5-foot-10 and 195 pounds, Moore needs to rely on speed. But he simply hasn’t been able to make that work at the NFL level. OTAs didn’t add any fuel to the simmering embers, and this could be the end of his Kansas City road.
The receiver upgrade means little chance, barring injuries, for Moore to make an impact. But where is the trade value for a receiver who can’t function well in a offense directed by Mahomes. That could greatly lessen Moore’s trade value.
Smith told kckingdom.com he likes where he is right now.
“Ultimately, looking at different teams, with the success that Kansas City's had obviously with Mahomes and being a part of (a team with) Travis Kelce and Coach Reid … the culture they've built here is a winning culture,” Smith said. “It's something that I've been around, winners my whole life. I just felt like for me, it was the best opportunity, the best fit and somewhere I can succeed and just showcase my ability.”
Smith likely needs an excellent training camp, and perhaps sub-par efforts from Gray or Wiley to avoid a trade or even a cut.
