Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster roasted the New York Giants for trading Kadarius Toney earlier this season.
"I don’t know what the Giants were doing with KT, but he’s a dog," Smith-Schuster remarked coming off Kansas City's 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII, per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. "(Chiefs general manager) Brett Veach and (head coach) Andy Reid know how to pick and choose who to go get and who will fit in with this team. The hard part with (Toney) is trying to block for him, he’s like a rubber band. He just jukes so many times that it’s hard to block for him, but as you can see his punt return set us up big to put points on the board."
A first-year Giants front office that didn't spend a first-round draft pick on Toney back in 2021 traded him to the Chiefs before Week 8 of the 2022 campaign. It was subsequently reported that New York general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll didn't trust the 24-year-old after he missed 12 of a possible 24 games during his brief Giants tenure for a variety of reasons.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce repeatedly praised his new teammate after the trade that ESPN's Jordan Raanan referred to ahead of this past weekend as "a good move for all involved."
Toney then quieted many critics when he tallied a touchdown reception and recorded the longest punt return in Super Bowl history on Sunday evening:
TIE GAME. HERE WE GO.
— NFL (@NFL) February 13, 2023
: #SBLVII on FOX
: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/d8gBDzRt2m pic.twitter.com/kibzBw5WYe
KADARIUS TONEY TAKES IT DOWN TO THE 5 YARD LINE.
— NFL (@NFL) February 13, 2023
THIS GAME.
: #SBLVII on FOX
: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/d8gBDzRt2m pic.twitter.com/bFMl6VQPUA
Kadarius Toney’s 65-yard punt return in the fourth quarter, the longest in Super Bowl history, was one of several key plays that led Kansas City to its comeback win over the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII. https://t.co/89FS6REZOJ pic.twitter.com/k27fxyzr50
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 13, 2023
Toney made it clear in comments that he offered shortly after the Super Bowl he's grateful the Giants gave up on him when and how they did:
Kadarius Toney’s 65-yard punt return was the longest in Super Bowl history - he describes it to me right here…
— StaceyDales (@StaceyDales) February 13, 2023
Plus, when I asked him why the Chiefs worked out after being traded by the Giants mid-season?
“I’m a Super Bowl Champion, that’s why.” pic.twitter.com/qwniIn5rQQ
Toney and fellow former Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. even shared a laugh over the trade via Twitter:
And they traded him….. I just feel like life is ALLLL about situations
— Odell Beckham Jr (@obj) February 13, 2023
— Kadarius Toney (@0fficialC2N) February 13, 2023
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