Why the Giants decided it was time to trade Kadarius Toney

With each passing week, it became obvious to the Giants coaching staff and front office that Kadarius Toney was lacking in at least two of the three tenets of the new regime. Brian Daboll insists his players are smart, tough and dependable and “tough’’ and “dependable’’ were never part of Toney’s brief stay.

The end came Thursday, when general manager Joe Schoen traded Toney to the Chiefs for a compensatory third-round pick and a sixth-round pick in the 2023 draft. There were disagreements between the player and the team that did not exactly trigger this deal but that did make it more sensible that he be sent away.

It is likely Toney, who has missed the past five games with two separate hamstring injuries, passes his physical in Kansas City. The plan for him with the Giants was to practice on Thursday and, if all went well, perhaps play Sunday in Seattle.

The Giants, though, actually preferred Toney sit out this game and rest up during the following bye week to be healthy for the second half of the season. The NFL trade deadline is Tuesday and the Giants were not committed to keeping him around. If he played and re-injured himself, his trade value would be diminished. If he played and was productive, his marketability in a trade would increase. Given his history with the Giants ever since becoming a 2021 first-round pick, the feeling was it was more likely Toney would hurt his trade value.

Toney, according to a source, was not happy that he was held out of practice Wednesday. He believed he was ready to go. The offer from the Chiefs came early Thursday and that was that.

It is believed Daboll’s plan is for the injured players to stay in town during the bye week and continue their rehab at the team facility. If Toney was held out of Sunday’s game he would have been considered an injured player and required to stay — which he would not want to do. There were concerns that Toney, if deemed healthy, would leave the area and compromise some of his conditioning during the bye week, making him more susceptible to injury upon his return. Clearly, Toney did not build up any trust equity with the new coaching staff or front office.

This regime did not draft Toney and would not have drafted Toney, a player who was not on the draft boards of several NFL teams because of concerns with his attitude and durability. The Giants are 6-1 with Toney playing only 35 snaps, catching two passes for zero yards and rushing twice for 23 yards. Daboll is squeezing everything he can out of a feisty but flawed roster, and every day Toney was not available was detrimental to the environment Daboll and Schoen are trying to create.

Toney did not do himself any favors by missing the first two voluntary weeks in the spring. He got hurt upon his return and needed an arthroscopic knee procedure that set him back. He missed two games with a strained hamstring, declared himself ready and pulled his other hamstring in his first practice back on the field. There were bouts of immaturity and lack of communication. On a team that is certainly wide receiver-needy, the Giants decided they did not need Toney.