Rams should avoid Kadarius Toney, again

Kadarius Toney has always had talent, but inconsistent play and injuries have kept him off the field

The Cleveland Browns waived former first round pick Kadarius Toney on Tuesday, but he won’t be of any interest to the Los Angeles Rams on the waiver wire. Instead, the only reaction from L.A. should be a reminder that his career basically came to a halt against the Rams during his rookie season.

Going back to Week 5 of the 2021 season Kadarius Toney went off for over 190 yards from scrimmage against the Dallas Cowboys, and in Week 6 Toney had a chance to build on that incredible performance against L.A.’s star cornerback Jalen Ramsey.

On the Giants’ opening drive against L.A., Toney flashed the talent that still might allure NFL teams as he racked up three catches for 36 yards almost immediately. Those catches all occurred before he was hurt on that same drive, and then went on to miss the rest of the contest.

LA would go on to handedly beat the Giants, but leading up to the game there was real optimism that New York finally found something to be excited about.

The New York Post wrote leading up to the game against Sean McVay and LA:

“Giants fans have witnessed his breathtaking, jaw-dropping gifts from afar, first a hint of them in New Orleans, then that wondrous breakout inside Jerry World last Sunday.

It has only been one shining moment, but when the Rams arrive as 10.5-point favorites, Kadarius Toney stands on this Sunday as a beacon of light amid the darkness that has enveloped the New York Football Giants franchise.”

After the ‘21 season, the Giants would eventually trade Toney to the Kansas City Chiefs and he would go on to win two Super Bowls with Patrick Mahomes, before KC finally decided they themselves had enough. Just this past August the mercurial, but talented wide receiver was cut.

Some might even argue KC held onto the player longer than expected after his Week One performance against the Detroit Lions in the ‘23 season.

Toney of course eventually ended up with the Browns in ‘24, but was most recently cut after an embarrassing performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

A few years into his career and it seems like teams in the NFL are starting to think their roster is better off without Toney. At 25 years of age the young man has his whole life ahead of him, but it might not be in the NFL, and it certainly doesn’t look like it will be with the Rams.

Sometimes you can be praised for the moves you don’t make, so credit Les Snead and McVay so far for not buying into the hype around the former first round pick. The Rams did not draft him, they didn’t trade for him and they have not added him despite the player’s tantalizing talent.

My expectation is it stays that way.