The latest Kadarius Toney development spells bad news for the Chiefs

Former Kansas City Chiefs WR Kadarius Toney has a new home and it's not particularly good news for the reigning Super Bowl champions.

According to Bleacher Report's Jordan Schultz, the Cleveland Browns are set to add WR Kadarius Toney to their practice squad. Toney, of course, was waived by Kansas City during 53-man roster cuts after 1.5 frustrating seasons with the Chiefs.

Chiefs GM Brett Veach has insisted that he'd do the trade for Toney over again in a heartbeat . There's no denying that Toney directly resulted in some big plays in Super Bowl LVII. That said, they certainly didn't get the WR1 they were at one point hoping for in Toney. And the latest news certainly isn't the good news that K.C. was hoping for after they released Toney in late August.

Why Kadarius Toney signing to the Browns' practice squad is bad news for the Chiefs

The Chiefs had a slim chance of recouping some money after releasing WR Kadarius Toney during 53-man roster cuts. Releasing Toney meant that Kansas City would have a $2.53M dead money charge. That's because Toney was still on his rookie deal as a former first-round draft pick. The Chiefs acquired that contract with Toney when they picked him up in a trade with the New York Giants in 2022.

Had a team signed Toney to their 53-man roster ahead of the conclusion of Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season, the Chiefs would have recouped over $1M in salary cap space. It'd bring their total cap space over $7 million. Why would that happen? It's because the base salary of every player on the 53-man roster becomes guaranteed if they're on the roster for Week 1. The portion of base salary that became dead money for Kansas City would cancel out with a new guaranteed base salary. Unfortunately, Toney will begin his tenure in Cleveland on the practice squad, which means Kansas City won't get any money back.

It also means that Toney, who the Chiefs at one time felt had WR1 talent, will be staying in the AFC conference. However unlikely it may be that Toney puts things together in Cleveland, they might have to deal with that reality down the line if he somehow does.

Related: Chiefs LB Leo Chenal sent a message to the rest of the NFL with his dominant Week 1 performance