When in doubt, Kadarius Toney will Kadarius Toney.

Carolina Panthers v New York Giants / Mitchell Leff/GettyImages

It looks like the Kadarius Toney Experience has claimed another victim. On Tuesday, the Cleveland Browns waived the former New York Giants and Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver after just three games on their active roster.

For those keeping track, that makes three teams in four seasons for Toney—each convinced they could unlock his potential, only to realize they’d been sold a bill of goods.

The Browns clearly thought they were getting a bargain when they picked Toney up in September. After all, this is a former first-round pick with speed, elusiveness, and just enough flashes of brilliance to make you believe he’s on the verge of figuring it out.

But, as the Giants and Chiefs could have warned them, the Toney rollercoaster has more lows than highs, and Cleveland got the full ride against Pittsburgh.

Browns learn the hard way that Kadarius Toney’s talent is not worth the headache

Toney’s performance in the Browns’ loss to the Steelers was, well, peak Kadarius Toney. He had a couple of decent punt returns early on, but things quickly went south in the fourth quarter. First, he picked up a taunting penalty after a fair catch by tossing the ball at a Steelers player—because of course he did. A few minutes later, he muffed a punt, effectively sealing the loss for Cleveland.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski called the penalty “really disappointing,” but let’s be honest, anyone who’s followed Toney’s career could have seen this coming. Whether it’s drops, penalties, or mental lapses, Toney has a knack for finding the worst possible moments to remind everyone why teams keep moving on from him.

Former #Browns WR Kadarius Toney had the WORST game of his NFL career against the #Steelers Sunday.

Today, Toney was waived by the team.pic.twitter.com/pLbKnPUWRd https://t.co/s5LC5rXBcX

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) December 10, 2024

This isn’t a new story. Giants fans got their hopes up when Toney showed flashes as a rookie in 2021, including a monster 189-yard game against the Cowboys. By mid-2022, they’d seen enough and shipped him to Kansas City. Chiefs fans hoped Andy Reid could work his magic, and for a moment, it looked like he had. Toney scored a touchdown and had a record-setting punt return in Super Bowl LVII, giving KC fans one fleeting reason to celebrate his time there.

But the drops, injuries, and inconsistency followed him to Kansas City, and by the start of this season, the Chiefs had moved on too. Enter the Browns, convinced they could get something out of him. Spoiler alert: they couldn’t.

At just 25 years old, Toney still has the athleticism to tempt teams into giving him another shot. But let’s be real—the pattern is well-established at this point. He’s a first-round talent with the reliability of a coin flip, and even the most creative coaching staffs haven’t been able to change that.

The Browns are just the latest in a growing line of teams to be fooled by the Kadarius Toney Experience. At this point, you have to wonder how many more chances he’ll get before the league moves on for good.