Kadarius Toney

Chiefs Designate WR Mecole Hardman For Return

December 18th, 2022 at 8:19am CST by Adam La Rose

DECEMBER 18: Toney will suit up for Kansas City’s Week 15 contest against the Texans, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets. The team expects to have Hardman back for its Week 16 tilt with the Seahawks.

DECEMBER 14: The Chiefs have been shorthanded at the receiver position lately, but that could change soon. Mecole Hardman is returning to practice today, as noted (on Twitter) by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

This opens Hardman’s 21-day window to be activated from IR. A return at some point in the near future would be expected, given the team’s previously stated hope that his time on the sidelines would not extend through the remainder of the regular season. Hardman has been out since Week 9 with an abdominal injury.

The former second-rounder has seen a career-high 53% snap share on offense this season, his fourth with the team. He has once again served as a complimentary pass-catcher within the Chiefs’ league-leading aerial attack, albeit one whose target totals had increased with each passing season. That trend will stop in 2022 due to his missed time, but with four touchdowns, the Georgia alum could have a chance at setting a new watermark from the six he scored as a rookie.

Any further production on offense this season – or, if called upon, on special teams where he first established himself early in his tenure – will of course be noteworthy as Hardman is a pending free agent. His career over the course of his rookie contract has been marked by a lack of a dominant, breakout campaign, but also an ability as a return man and vertical threat.

Hardman should once again step into a rotational role behind free agent signings JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who have each enjoyed productive seasons in 2022. With trade acquisition Kadarius Toney dealing with a lingering hamstring issue, his availability could remain a question mark down the stretch. Hardman will be a welcomed sight as Kansas City looks to earn the top seed in the AFC while getting healthy on offense.

WR Injury Notes: Meyers, Toney, Cardinals

December 10th, 2022 at 9:53pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Patriots were a talking point in some circles after their Thursday night loss to the Bills. Their passing attack in particular came under fire, but a turnaround this week against Arizona will have to come without their leading receiver.

New England has ruled out Jakobi Meyers for their upcoming Monday night game as a result of a concussion. The news comes as little surprise, given the fact that the 26-year-old was unable to practice throughout the week as a result of the injury. His absence will be felt by the Patriots, given his team-leading 593 receiving yards this season, to go along with three touchdowns.

Overall, New England ranks 20th in the league with an average of 232 yards per game through the air. The WR position has not been dominant in that production, though, with running back Rhamondre Stevenson and tight end Hunter Henry ranking third and fourth, respectively, in receiving yards on the team. Nevertheless, plenty of snaps and targets will be available for the likes of Nelson Agholor, Kendrick Bourne and Tyquan Thornton as complementary pass-catchers to DeVante Partker.

Here are some other wideout-related injury notes heading into the remaining Week 14 contests:

The Chiefs were hoping to get Kadarius Toney back in time for this week after he logged three straight limited practices, but the midseason trade acquisition will miss at least one more contest due to his lingering hamstring issue. The former Giants first-rounder showed plenty of potential in his second game in Kansas City (four catches for 57 yards and one touchdown), but he will now be sidelined for his third consecutive game. With Mecole Hardman still on IR, the NFC West leaders will again be relatively shorthanded at the position.
The Cardinals will also be undermanned with respect to their pass-catchers when they play on Monday night. Rondale Moore has been ruled out with a groin injury. The 2021 second-rounder missed Week 12, and was unable to sufficiently heal during the team’s bye week. The news extends the injury issues which have plagued the Purdue alum dating back to his time in college, and will leave Arizona without their slot starter. In more positive news, DeAndre Hopkins will be available for the Cardinals when they look to find consistency on offense and avoid a three-game losing streak.

Injury Updates: Williams, Toney, Robinson

November 25th, 2022 at 10:04pm CST by Ely Allen

Injuries continue to plague wide receiver Mike Williams and the Chargers this 2022 season. After making his way back from a three-week absence, during which he missed two games, Williams left the team’s loss to the Chiefs last week after only six offensive snaps. The setback that took him out early in last week’s game will now officially keep him out for another game as Los Angeles has ruled him out for this week’s matchup against the Cardinals.

In Williams’ absence, the team will likely go with the same wide receiver mixture they did when he left last week. Keenan Allen will lead the receiving corps alongside Josh Palmer and DeAndre Carter while also getting some reserve snaps from Michael Bandy.

It was originally expected that Williams would miss four games, after the initial diagnosis of his high ankle sprain. Counting last week as an absence, this week will be his fourth missed game, hopefully giving him the rest he needs to help the Chargers make a playoff push.

Here are a few other injury updates from around the league, starting with another injured wide receiver in the AFC West:

Second-year receiver Kadarius Toney has been ruled out for this week’s matchup against the Rams. Toney suffered a hamstring injury in the first half of the team’s win over the Chargers last week. The former first-round pick missed seven games over his rookie season with the Giants, missing five more games due to a Week 2 injury this season before his eventual trade to the Chiefs. This will be Toney’s first missed game as a Chief, a trend that Kansas City fans will hope ends here. The good news is that the team expects JuJu Smith-Schuster to return from a concussion that held him out of last week’s game. Smith-Schuster should start alongside Marquez Valdes-Scantling with Justin Watson and Skyy Moore providing off the bench.
Rams starting defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson will miss the rest of the season after suffering a torn meniscus, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. The stout run-defender had really found a home on the Rams’ line alongside Greg Gaines and Aaron Donald but Los Angeles will need to figure things out without him for the rest of the year. Marquise Copeland‘s name was called last week when Robinson left the game in New Orleans. Michael Hoecht is usually the next name off the bench while Bobby Brown III and Jonah Williams each rotate in for short periods, as well. Copeland is expected to take on Robinson’s role for the remainder of the season, though.

AFC West Notes: Broncos, Toney, Chargers

November 5th, 2022 at 2:45pm CST by Sam Robinson

To help create cap space as they acquired Bradley Chubb‘s fifth-year option salary (initially), the Dolphins included Chase Edmonds‘ two-year, $12MM deal in their Tuesday trade with the Broncos. Edmonds joins a Denver backfield already housing veterans in Melvin Gordon and Latavius Murray. Gordon’s up-and-down Broncos tenure has now included a demotion, effectively, with Murray playing a big role since being signed off the Saints’ practice squad. Fumbles have continued to plague Gordon in 2022, leading to the reduced workload despite a starting role. Broncos GM George Paton said the Edmonds trade would not affect Gordon’s starter status, calling the former Cardinals change-of-pace back “another piece to the puzzle.” It will be interesting to see how the Broncos proceed once Mike Boone is ready to return from IR. The team has five injury activations remaining this season.

Midway through his eighth season, Gordon (75 carries, 263 yards, four fumbles) is on pace for career lows in totes and rushing yards. Edmonds is on Denver’s 2022 cap sheet at just more than $1.1MM; that number spikes to a nonguaranteed $5.7MM in 2023. Gordon and Murray are both on expiring contracts. Here is the latest from the AFC West:

The other player coming to the AFC West via pre-deadline trade, Kadarius Toney is expected to make his debut for the Chiefs on Sunday night. Andy Reid pointed to Toney being in uniform against the Titans, via the Kansas City Star’s Herbie Teope (on Twitter). Toney has not played since Week 2. After he battled myriad injuries as a rookie, the former Giants first-round pick encountered issues with both hamstrings this season. The mercurial speedster, who has missed 12 career games, will attempt to stay healthy as he joins a Chiefs team that has started to see steady production from its post-Tyreek Hill receiving corps.
Shifting to the Chargers‘ receiving corps, Keenan Allen is aiming to avoid a lost season. The Chargers have ruled out their five-time Pro Bowl target due to the hamstring injury he suffered back in Week 1. Allen experienced a setback earlier this season but returned on a limited snap count in Week 7, but the 10th-year veteran said (via ESPN.com’s Lindsey Thiry) he exited the Bolts’ bye week feeling worse than he had before. Allen added that he was not 100% when he played in Week 7 and would not return again until he was full-go. After posting four 1,100-plus-yard seasons over the past five years, Allen has seen his absence hurt Los Angeles’ passing attack — one likely also impacted by the rib injury Justin Herbert suffered earlier this year. Mike Williams is also navigating an extended injury absence due to a high ankle sprain.
The hits keep coming for the Chargers. They will be without former first-round defensive lineman Jerry Tillery this week. Brandon Staley said the rotational D-tackle suffered a back injury weightlifting this week. Despite not starting and the Bolts not picking up his fifth-year option, Tillery has played 43% of the team’s defensive snaps this season.

Latest On Giants-Kadarius Toney Split

October 28th, 2022 at 3:43pm CST by Sam Robinson

Kadarius Toney‘s Giants tenure ended after 41 receptions, 420 yards and no touchdowns. The decision to send him to the Chiefs stemmed partially around trust issues, along with the injury-prone player fetching a Day 2 draft choice in Thursday’s deal.

Toney had missed the past five games due to separate hamstring injuries. The talented pass catcher missed time during training camp with a hamstring issue and, after catching two passes for zero yards in the Giants’ first two games, reinjured the same hamstring in September. While rehabbing the second hamstring injury, Toney injured his other hamstring. But he and the Giants had a difference of opinion in how Week 8 would play out.

The Giants preferred to sit Toney against the Seahawks. The second-year receiver, however, per ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan, believed he had recovered. Toney indicated this himself in a since-deleted tweet (via ESPN.com’s Field Yates). Multiple factors influenced the Giants’ plan, according to the New York Post’s Paul Schwartz.

The new Giants regime wanted to keep a trade door open and felt it was more likely than not, given Toney’s injury history, he would damage his trade value if he played in Seattle. An injury designation would also have led to Toney being forced to stay in town during the team’s bye week for rehab purposes, per Schwartz, who adds the Florida product would not have wanted to go through with that plan.

Both the Giants’ current regime and its Dave Gettleman-led front office did not appear to trust Toney. The team’s present staff worried Toney would leave town and not follow through with the necessary steps to play in Week 10, with Schwartz adding conditioning represented a concern. This is not out of step with how the previous regime perceived Toney, who entered the draft with some baggage. The previous Giants staff did not have an issue with Toney when he was at the team’s facility, Raanan tweets, but they did not trust him to put in the work offsite.

Durability and attitude concerns led several teams to take Toney off their draft boards, Schwartz adds. The Giants had eyed DeVonta Smith with their 2021 first-round pick, but the Eagles traded in front of them. New York then traded back to No. 20, allowing Chicago to move up to No. 11 for Justin Fields. Toney became the selection, which irked Urban Meyer, who planned to draft him had he lasted to the Jaguars’ No. 25 pick. Travis Etienne has worked out a bit better.

Between then and the hamstring trouble that cropped up this year, Toney showed electric ability — mostly in two October 2021 games — but battled myriad injury issues. Toney began down a strange path when he did not show for Giants OTAs last year, surprising the team’s previous coaching staff. After missing most of last year’s training camp with hamstring trouble, Toney missed seven games due to ankle, quad, oblique and shoulder ailments. The new Giants regime entertained trade talks this offseason, one in which Toney also underwent arthroscopic knee surgery.

The Chiefs have Toney under contract through 2024; a fifth-year option could extend that deal through 2025. After giving ex-Giants first-rounder DeAndre Baker a second opportunity, the Chiefs will roll the dice on another Gettleman-era top pick. Toney, who clocked a 4.39-second 40-yard dash coming out of Florida, would stand to be a developmental player in Kansas City. After wearing out his welcome with two Giants regimes, it will be interesting how the boom-or-bust talent fares under Andy Reid and Co.

Chiefs To Acquire Giants WR Kadarius Toney

October 27th, 2022 at 10:10pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Giants are already moving on from Kadarius Toney. Despite choosing the shifty wide receiver in the 2021 first round, the Giants are trading him to the Chiefs, NFL reporter Jordan Schultz tweets.

Kansas City is sending a compensatory third-round choice and a sixth-rounder to New York for Toney, who has again battled injuries this season. While Toney has shown promise when available, injuries have largely prevented him from playing as a pro. The Giants will receive the third-round pick the Chiefs obtained for the Bears’ Ryan Poles GM hire, according to SI.com’s Albert Breer (on Twitter). Both the third- and sixth-round picks going to the Giants will be 2023 choices, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.

Toney trade rumors emerged briefly this offseason, but the Giants shut them down. At the time, Big Blue’s new regime was keen on seeing how Toney looked in an offense that also housed Saquon Barkley. While Barkley has returned to top form, Toney has tumbled out of the starting blocks. Injuries to both hamstrings have plagued Toney this season — one featuring just 35 offensive snaps — and a Joe Schoen–Brian Daboll regime that did not draft him will cut bait.

Quadriceps and oblique injuries sidelined the Florida alum for seven combined games last season — one that did include a Toney game at Arrowhead Stadium — and an ankle malady forced him out of another game. Toney missed much of last year’s training camp with a hamstring injury and underwent a knee scope this offseason. The Chiefs are taking a gamble here, but the 6-foot wideout has flashed high-end athleticism during his brief cameo as a healthy receiver.

Toney caught 39 passes for 420 yards last year, showing rapid-fire run-after-catch ability. He made a big impact in the Giants’ upset win over the Saints — a six-catch, 89-yard performance — and dizzied the Cowboys for 10 receptions and 189 yards the following week. Illustrating Toney’s boom-or-bust career thus far, that game also included Toney throwing a punch at then-Cowboys safety Damontae Kazee. Toney was also tossed from a Giants practice for throwing a punch last year.

At Florida, Toney zoomed onto the first-round radar with a 70-catch, 984-yard, 10-touchdown senior season alongside Kyle Pitts. Prior to that season, however, the 2021 Giants investment did not surpass 300 yards in a college campaign. The Chiefs do not have much of a sample size to go on here, but they have turned to a Giants first-rounder in the recent past. The Giants cut 2019 Round 1 cornerback Deandre Baker, after an offseason arrest, and the Chiefs ended up adding him. The Chiefs are obviously aiming higher with Toney, as Baker did not make a big impact during his time in Missouri.

Toney, 23, is signed through the 2024 season and can be kept on his rookie deal through 2025 via the fifth-year option, though we are obviously a long way away from Toney being option-worthy. The Giants will save $1.2MM against the cap by making this move, which comes after the Chiefs created a bit of cap space by restructuring Travis Kelce‘s contract for the second time in 2022. Kansas City still has a third-rounder in next year’s draft, along with two fourths. Over the long haul, however, the Giants will avoid $5MM-plus in Toney salary payments.

Toney, who has not played since Week 2, will have a bit more time to acclimate in Andy Reid‘s offense. The Chiefs are in their bye week. Kansas City traded Tyreek Hill this offseason, leading to an overhaul of its receiving corps. Free agency additions JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling lead the Chiefs’ attack, and each is coming off 100-yard games in San Francisco. The Chiefs also roster Mecole Hardman, who is in a contract year, and drafted Skyy Moore in this year’s second round. Moore has struggled early in his rookie campaign, and the Chiefs have been linked to both Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandin Cooks ahead of the deadline. This Toney trade could take K.C. out of the OBJ sweepstakes, as it profiles somewhere between a flier and a blockbuster move due to the compensation involved.

The Giants, who had hoped to draft DeVonta Smith instead of Toney in 2021, entered the offseason with a crowded receiver room. But that group has not played together much. Massive free agency disappointment Kenny Golladay is still out with an MCL sprain. Giants hopes at trading the ex-Lions Pro Bowler have run into expected contractually based obstacles. The team also lost its longest-tenured wideout, Sterling Shepard, for the season.

Moving forward, Big Blue has Darius Slayton and Wan’Dale Robinson in place as its top targets. Slayton rising to such a perch is interesting, given his recent place on the trade block after an offseason that saw his stock drop to the point he accepted a pay cut. But this trade figures to make the contract-year wideout a more important piece while making wide receiver a major Giants need in 2023.

NFC East Notes: Toney, Eagles, Commanders

October 7th, 2022 at 10:10am CST by Sam Robinson

Kadarius Toney did not make the trip to London with his Giants teammates, and Brian Daboll offered another discouraging update regarding the 2021 first-round pick’s status. Toney is battling a new injury, with Daboll indicating the reason he did not make the trip is due to a Wednesday tweak of his previously non-injured hamstring (via SNY’s Connor Hughes, on Twitter). Toney is now dealing with injuries to both his hamstrings, and ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan adds (via Twitter) the shifty wideout said the hamstring issue he entered the week with was different from the one that plagued him this offseason. That would add up to three hamstring problems since camp.

Toney has yet to sustain a serious injury as a pro, but he has fast become one of the league’s most unavailable players. Quadriceps and oblique injuries sidelined him for seven combined games last season, and an ankle malady forced him out of another game. Toney missed much of last year’s training camp with a hamstring injury and underwent a knee scope this offseason. The Giants’ current regime is souring on the Dave Gettleman-era investment, who is signed through 2024.

The Giants will be without Toney, Kenny Golladay and Wan’Dale Robinson against the Packers in London. The second-round rookie, who has not played since Week 1, will likely be out again. While Golladay will almost certainly not be part of next year’s Giants team, it is worth wondering if Toney will be. Here is the latest from the NFC East:

The Giants wanted DeVonta Smith last year, but the Eagles traded in front of them. Philadelphia was able to begin wheeling and dealing to land the Heisman winner after its apparent Week 17 tanking effort the year prior. That gave Philly the No. 6 overall pick, though Doug Pederson was no longer with the team by that draft. Pederson never informed Jalen Hurts of the plan to, after not dressing Carson Wentz that night, take him out and play third-stringer Nate Sudfeld, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes. Pederson benching Hurts late in a close, nationally televised game bothered some in the organization, including then-DC Jim Schwartz. Some staffers also wondered if that decision would affect the Pederson-Hurts relationship going forward, McLane adds. That said, Pederson later expressed regret he did not go with Hurts sooner. As Wentz struggled during the 2020 season, the Eagles did not turn to Hurts until Week 14 that year.
Eagles management wanted to use the 2021 season to retool with younger talent, Zach Berman of The Athletic notes, while Pederson was behind a reload with a similar coaching staff. Pederson, who had resisted management’s wishes to oust Mike Groh during the 2020 offseason, wanted to promote Press Taylor to OC. That did not sit well with Jeffrey Lurie. Pederson has since hired Taylor as his Jaguars OC.
The Andrew Norwell–Trai Turner guard reunion may end up being short-lived. The Commanders benched Turner in Week 4, and Ron Rivera said the move will carry over. Saahdiq Charles will start over Turner in Week 5, Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post tweets, with Rivera noting Turner is not fully over the quad injury he battled in camp. Turner nevertheless started from Weeks 2-4 and played 100% of the Commanders’ offensive snaps in Weeks 2 and 3. The former Rivera Panthers charge signed a one-year, $3MM deal this offseason, coming to Washington after one-year stays with the Chargers and Steelers. A third-year Washington O-lineman, Charles has started five career games

Giants QB Daniel Jones To Play In Week 5

October 7th, 2022 at 9:57am CST by Ben Levine

OCTOBER 7: Jones will play against the Packers in London. The Giants took the fourth-year quarterback off their injury report. The Giants ruled out Taylor, however. Webb will back up Jones.

OCTOBER 6: The Giants will be without four starters this weekend. Wide receivers Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney, outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari, and cornerback Cor’Dale Flott did not make the flight to London for Sunday’s game against the Packers.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter), Golladay suffered a sprained MCL during Sunday’s win over the Bears. It sounds like this would be a temporary absence for the veteran wideout, although the Giants won’t have any extra time following their trip across the Atlantic. Despite earning his first start of the season on Sunday, Golladay still isn’t a major factor in the Giants’ offense. Through four appearances, he’s hauled in two catches on six targets.

Toney has been dealing with a hamstring injury that’s forced him to miss the past two games. There was some optimism that he could return this weekend after he was a limited participant on Wednesday, but he didn’t practice today.

“He’s done everything we’ve asked,” offensive coordinator Mike Kafka said today (via ESPN’s Jordan Raanan). “He’s practiced hard when he’s practicing. It’s unfortunate, but he’s one of those guys that does everything we asked and is working his tail off in the training room and in the meeting rooms. He does a great job with that.”

There is some good news on the injury front. Per Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com, Daniel Jones is “trending in the right direction” for this weekend. The QB has been a limited participant this week while nursing an ankle injury, but he made the flight to London and is expected to give it a go. With backup Tyrod Taylor likely sidelined with a concussion, the Giants will probably promote Davis Webb from their practice squad for some extra depth.

WR Notes: Toney, Rams, Lions, Cards, Cooks

September 30th, 2022 at 4:48pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Giants will enter their Week 4 game with Richie James, David Sills and Kenny Golladay as their top available wide receivers. Wan’Dale Robinson will miss a third straight game, while Kadarius Toney will be out for a second. The Toney-Giants relationship is steadily deteriorating. This regime is “clearly” not high on the Dave Gettleman-era first-round pick, Ralph Vacchiano of Fox Sports writes. Repeated injury problems have slowed Toney with the Giants, who saw the Eagles trade in front of them to nab DeVonta Smith last year. Reports connected the Giants to the Heisman winner ahead of last year’s draft. Toney will have missed nine career games by Sunday, due to various lower-body ailments, and the current Giants regime’s Golladay handling shows it is not afraid to bury bad investments. It would seem Darius Slayton — another player who has not impressed the current staff, leading to trade buzz — will see more run in Week 4, but Vacchiano adds the Giants will likely be looking for at least two new wideouts in 2023. Toney joined Slayton in being linked in trade rumors, albeit briefly, this offseason. Robinson, a second-round rookie, appears the only lock to be back.

Here is the latest from the receiver scene around the league:

Allen Robinson flashed often during Rams training camp, and determining this signing will fail after three games is ill-advised. But early indications are Robinson’s 2021 Bears performance was not an outlier. The veteran dropped a touchdown pass against the Cardinals and has just seven catches for 88 yards with Los Angeles. The Rams came in with a monster offer — three years, $46.5MM; $30MM fully guaranteed — to sign the former Jaguars and Bears wideout, using their cap space on the ninth-year player after Von Miller chose the Bills. Other teams were interested in Robinson, albeit at lower price points, but SI.com’s Albert Breer notes teams did not like what Robinson put on tape. That is not exactly surprising, considering how badly Robinson’s final Bears season (38 receptions, 410 yards, one touchdown) went. But the early returns on Robinson’s Rams deal are not promising. Rams-Odell Beckham Jr. connections will likely continue.
The Lions are being patient with Jameson Williams, who is recovering from an ACL tear sustained during the national championship game. Williams is on Detroit’s reserve/NFI list, and while the first-round wideout could return in Week 5, he will not. The Alabama product is likelier to be back in early November, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press posits. Williams recently posted a video of him running and cutting. A second-half return has always been rumored for Williams, whom the Lions traded up 20 spots to draft. But no setbacks having occurred here obviously represents a good sign for the rebuilding franchise.
The Cardinals‘ receiving corps will not be at full strength until at least Week 7, when DeAndre Hopkins is eligible to return from his PED suspension. But the team may have one of its previously unavailable weapons in uniform Sunday. Rondale Moore is tracking toward returning from his hamstring injury, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com tweets. The 2021 second-rounder, who caught 54 passes for 435 yards as a rookie, has missed Arizona’s first three games. He managed three limited practices this week. Marquise Brown, who suffered a foot injury in Week 3, is also likely to play. A.J. Green will miss Week 4 with a knee injury.
After Brandin Cooks played one game on the base salary he locked in by signing a two-year, $39.76MM extension in April, the Texans converted $831K of that base into a signing bonus. The Texans saved $554K with the move, Wilson notes. Cooks’ salary is down to $1.17MM; it spikes to $18MM next year. Cooks, who is now on his third contract, is signed through 2024.

Giants Looking For Wide Receiver Help?

September 20th, 2022 at 10:10pm CST by Sam Robinson

Although the Giants’ setup was not exactly conducive to impressive receiving statistics last season, Kenny Golladay has not rebounded from his disappointing 2021 slate. The Giants have reduced the high-priced veteran’s playing time significantly.

The former two-time 1,000-yard receiver played just two snaps in the Giants’ Week 2 win over the Panthers, seeing his usage plummet drastically from a 46-snap opener in Tennessee. With the Giants’ new regime not being the staff that authorized Golladay’s four-year, $72MM contract, the ex-Lions standout faces an uncertain Big Apple future.

Golladay, 28, joins Darius Slayton in failing to impress Brian Daboll‘s coaching staff. Long a trade candidate, Slayton has played four offensive snaps this season. The Giants’ 2019 and 2020 receiving leader took a pay cut, one that essentially negated his proven performance escalator contract-year bump, to stay on the team. But a Giants team seemingly flush with receiving talent has not seen too much from that contingent, beyond Sterling Shepard bouncing back early from his 2021 Achilles tear.

The team appears interested in shaking up the situation. Daboll has FaceTimed with free agent wideouts, according to ProFootballNetwork.com’s Aaron Wilson. Help is limited at this point on the NFL calendar, and the Giants do have a highly touted player acquired by their current regime — second-round pick Wan’Dale Robinson — preparing to make his debut. Robinson has missed the team’s first two games due to injury. Daboll passed on a Cole Beasley reunion; the ex-Bills slot joined the Buccaneers on Tuesday. Will Fuller and Odell Beckham Jr., an unrealistic Big Apple return candidate, headline the available receivers. As it stands, Big Blue’s wideout situation has produced some interesting on-field configurations early in Daboll’s run.

Daboll informed Golladay last week the team was effectively benching him for David Sills, a 2019 Bills UDFA who landed with the Giants later that year. Despite Daboll’s former team not having room for the Delaware product three years ago, this reunion has led to the most work of the young player’s career. Sills played 67 offensive snaps against the Panthers, catching three passes for 37 yards. Sills primarily worked alongside Shepard and Richie James, who led the Giants in receiving with five catches for 51 yards last week.

“I told him during the week that we were going to go with Sills,” Daboll said of Golladay’s demotion. “He acted like a pro. I said, ‘Be ready to go.’ Does that mean it’s going to be next week? No. It takes a lot of mental toughness, too. That’s not an easy thing to hear. I appreciate them being professional.”

A 2019 Pro Bowler, Golladay is known more for his contested-catch abilities than separation skills. The 6-foot-4 target drew interest from the Bears, Ravens, Dolphins and Bengals during the 2021 free agency period — one overshadowed by the COVID-19-induced salary cap drop — and signed with the Giants on a deal that included $28MM fully guaranteed and doubled as the top contract given to a UFA wideout last year. In an offense that saw both an OC change (from Jason Garrett to Freddie Kitchens) and Daniel Jones‘ injury give way to overmatched backups Mike Glennon and Jake Fromm, Golladay caught 37 passes for 521 yards and no touchdowns.

He did not put together a good offseason this year — one that featured an unspecified surgery — and is an obvious 2023 release candidate. For now, Golladay’s contract makes such a move prohibitive. The Giants can get out of the deal with a $7.9MM 2023 dead-money hit, should they designate Golladay as a post-June 1 cut. Golladay’s $21.2MM cap hit is not only tops among Giants; it ranks as the league’s eighth-highest 2022 cap number.

Golladay’s swift decline comes as the Giants are barely using 2021 first-rounder Kadarius Toney. The oft-injured wideout played seven snaps in the team’s opener and caught two passes for zero yards in Week 2. The Giants hoped to involve Toney more in Week 2, per Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post, but a hamstring tweak changed those plans. Toney still played more against the Panthers (28 snaps), however. Trade rumors encircled Toney this spring, and though those quieted quickly, the Dave Gettleman-era draftee’s status rounds out one of the league’s more interesting position groups through two weeks.

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