4. The Toney Try (2022)
Chiefs receive: WR Kadarius Toney
New York Giants receive: 2023 third-round compensatory pick and 2023 sixth-round pick
The big one. The biggest midseason swing Veach has taken to this point. The New York Giants selected Kadarius Toney in the first round of the 2021 draft, but he did little to live up to that billing. Injuries limited Toney to only 12 games with the Giants and head coach Brian Daboll was limiting Toney's workload, saying "it was for the best of the team." Toney was on the outs in New York, and a change of scenery was necessary.
Enter Veach. He had traded future Hall of Fame wide receiver Tyreek Hill ahead of that year's draft and still sought a dynamic wide receiver for Mahomes. Toney came to Kansas City still hampered by injury but made a good first impression. He scored his first three career touchdowns and looked like the dynamic player New York drafted him to be.
Those two picks turned out to be the 100th overall and 209th overall selections in this year's draft. New York traded the third-round pick to Las Vegas for tight end Darren Waller and that pick turned into wide receiver Tre Tucker. The Giants used the sixth-round selection to draft defensive back Tre Hawkins, Neither have had stellar performances in the league, but remain on NFL rosters at least.
Trade Deadline Takeaways
The only long-term impact move out of these four was trading for Toney. His full value in Kansas City is yet to be decided, but it is not trending in the right direction. Veach mentioned Toney in the WR1 discussion this offseason but Toney has not been an explosive threat downfield. He is averaging only 15 yards per game this season, despite having the second-most targets and receptions amongst Chiefs wide receivers.
The other three moves were minor, either clearing up the depth chart or some cap space.
The biggest takeaway from Veach's track record is not what moves were made, but when he made them. Veach took over as Kansas City's general manager in 2017. Four trade deadlines passed before he made his first trade. Those were years when the Chiefs had massive issues to address, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
But, after making that first trade in 2021, he hasn't looked back. Trading for Toney was his biggest move to date, while the Ingram trade the year before was the most impactful. Veach has a good track record of these midseason trades. Will he take it to another level this week, with a high-risk, high-reward move? We can only wait and see.