Kardius Toney future update adds another stain to Dave Gettleman’s resume

The Washington Commanders haven’t been a flagship NFL franchise in over two decades, but their foremost rivals haven’t been all that successful either.

Take the New York Giants as an example. They’ve been so inept over the last 10 years that fans can no longer fall back on the team’s Super Bowl victories in 2007 and 2011, which says a lot given they defeated the Patriots in both of them.

In recent years, the once-proud Giants have become a laughingstock. With just 22 wins over the last five seasons (4.4 per year), you’d think they’d be on the other side of their rebuild given how many high draft picks they’ve had.

With Dave Gettleman running the show, though, New York has whiffed in the draft time and time again. Between that and overpaying for free agents, Gettleman left the Giants in shambles before he stepped down as GM in January.

Gettleman’s parting gift for the G-Men? Kadarius Toney, the team’s 2021 first-round pick who’s reportedly on the trade block before the draft.

Commanders fans will find great comedy in the Giants reportedly looking to trade 2021 first-round pick Kadarius Toney.

With the Giants beginning a new era with Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll overseeing day-to-day operations, it’s not a huge surprise they’re trying to cash in on Toney, who, for all of the dynamism he offers as a receiver, had a ton of red flags coming into the NFL and was limited to 10 games as rookie due to injuries.

Following his drama-filled rookie campaign, Toney not reporting for the start of voluntary workouts might’ve sealed his fate in New York. Should he end up getting traded, it would add yet another stain to Gettleman’s already-tainted resume.

Since 2018, no team in the NFL had more first-round draft capital than the Giants. Gettleman turned that capital into Saquon Barkley, Daniel Jones, Dexter Lawrence, DeAndre Baker, Andrew Thomas and Toney.

With Baker already cut, Toney a trade candidate and Barkley, Jones and Lawrence all on expiring rookie deals, it’s very possible Thomas, who emerged as a franchise left tackle last year, is the only player still with the team after next season.

Perhaps the greatest nugget of Gettleman’s tenure is the fact he drafted a running back in the top 10 in back-to-back years. In 2017, he took Christian McCaffrey No. 8 overall for the Panthers, got fired, then took Barkley No. 2 in 2018.

That was Gettleman’s first pick as Giants GM. Eight of the next 10 selections included Denzel Ward, Bradley Chubb, Quenton Nelson, Josh Allen, Roquan Smith, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Vita Vea and the Commanders’ own Daron Payne.

That’s just one in a laundry list of gaffes on Gettleman’s resume. There’s not enough time to highlight his free-agency miscues. Just know that Kenny Golladay, who totaled 37 catches for 521 yards and zero touchdowns in 2021, currently has the highest projected cap hit amongst receivers in 2022.

Getting back to Toney, it seems like a long shot (at best) that he’s with the Giants come training camp, if not sooner.

We personally think it’d be a mistake giving up on a player with his talent this early into his career — imagine what he could do with the Chiefs or another high-powered offense — but the Schoen-Daboll regime seems content on kickstarting their era in the Big Apple with as few distractions as humanly possible.

All thanks to their former GM. Thanks again for everything, Dave.