In each of the previous two NFL seasons, wide receiver Kadarius Toney got a Super Bowl ring with the Kansas City Chiefs. On Sunday, Toney will be eligible to play for the first time in the 2024 season with the Cleveland Browns.
The Browns elevated Toney from their practice squad to active status on Saturday, putting the former Blount High School standout in line to make his 2024 debut on Sunday in the closest NFL city to his hometown.
Cleveland plays the New Orleans Saints at noon CST at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
Each NFL team can have a 16-member practice squad. Members of the practice squad do everything members of the active roster do, but they are not eligible to play in games. There is an exception: Each team can elevate two practice-squad members to active status for each game. This is the first time that Toney has been elevated.
Waived by the Chiefs on Aug. 28, Toney returned to the NFL on Sept. 10, when Cleveland signed him for its practice squad.
In Kansas City’s 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12, 2023, Toney had the longest punt return in Super Bowl history with a 65-yarder to the Philadelphia 5-yard line to set up a touchdown in the fourth quarter less than three minutes after he had caught a TD pass. Toney’s 5-yard touchdown reception with 12:04 remaining allowed Kansas City to take a 28-27 lead, and the advantage expanded to eight points thanks to his punt return.
The Chiefs won the NFL championship again for the 2023 season, but Toney did not contribute during the playoffs this time.
In 2023, Toney had 27 receptions for 169 yards and one touchdown, gained 31 yards on 11 rushing attempts and averaged 9.7 yards on six punt returns. But he did not play in the final three regular-season games or the four playoff contests last season.
Toney was an All-State quarterback at Blount High School in Prichard, and he won the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Class 6A Back of the Year Award for the 2016 season. In his final two seasons at Blount, Toney threw for 6,498 yards and 69 touchdowns and ran for 1,790 yards and 31 touchdowns.
Toney made the conversion to wide receiver at Florida, where he caught 70 passes for 984 yards and 10 touchdowns, ran for 161 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries and returned 11 punts for an average of 12.6 yards and one TD as a senior.
Toney was a first-round draft choice of the New York Giants in 2021. He had played in only 12 games for New York when the Giants traded him to Kansas City on Oct. 27, 2022.
In 32 NFL regular-season games, Toney has 82 receptions for 760 yards and three touchdowns, 21 rushing attempts for 119 yards and one touchdown and 17 punt returns for a 7.0-yard average.
Three other players with Alabama football roots were elevated from practice squads on Saturday to active status for Sunday games:
RELATED: AN INJURY IN KANSAS CITY HAS ANDERS CARLSON KICKING FOR THE JETS ON SUNDAY
The San Francisco 49ers placed cornerback Darrell Luter Jr. (South Alabama) on injured reserve on Saturday because of a pelvic injury. Luter will have to miss at least four games, by rule, after receiving that designation.
A fifth-round choice in the 2023 NFL Draft, Luter has been on the field for three defensive snaps and 47 special-teams plays in three games in 2024.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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