The Kansas City Chiefs let the deadline pass on Thursday without acting on their option for an extra season on the rookie contract of wide receiver Kadarius Toney.

Each first-round draft pick signs a four-year contract that carries a team option for a fifth season. But that option must be exercised before the player’s fourth season. For the 2021 first-rounders, the deadline to do so arrived at 3 p.m. CDT Thursday.

The New York Giants selected the former Blount High School quarterback at No. 20 in the 2021 NFL Draft, but the option decision was the Chiefs after Kansas City acquired the wide receiver in a trade on Oct. 27, 2022.

Because the Chiefs did not pick up the option, Toney is entering a contract year and will be an unrestricted free agent next offseason.

If Kansas City had used its option, Toney would have remained under contract through the 2025 season. He also would have been guaranteed a $14.345 million payday in 2025 – that’s the average of the third- through 25th-highest salaries for quarterbacks over the past five seasons.

It’s also more than the value of Toney’s four-year rookie contract signed in 2021, which totals $13.72 million.

Fifth-year options come in four designations:

· Players who have been selected for at least two Pro Bowls on the original ballot for the all-star event in their first three seasons

· Player who have been selected for one Pro Bowl on the original ballot

· Players who have not been Pro Bowlers but have played at least 75 percent of the offensive or defensive snaps in two seasons or 50 percent of the overall snaps across three seasons

· Players who have not reached the Pro Bowl or the playing-time standards

Toney did not meet the Pro Bowl or the playing-time thresholds.

Toney had 27 receptions for 169 yards and one touchdown, ran 11 times for 31 yards and returned six punts for a 9.7-yard average in 13 games last season.

For the final six of those games, Toney appeared on Kansas City’s injury report for the week as he was listed for 12 consecutive games. Toney did not play after Dec. 17 as the Chiefs went on to win the Super Bowl for the second season in a row.

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After joining New York from Florida as the 20th selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, Toney played in 12 of the Giants’ next 24 games. He had 41 receptions for 420 yards, five runs for 29 yards and one punt return for zero yards. Toney had not scored an NFL touchdown when New York traded him to Kansas City for third- and sixth-round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft.

In 20 regular-season games with the Chiefs, Toney has the same number of receptions that he had with the Giants, and the 41 catches have produced 340 yards and three touchdowns for Kansas City. He also has 90 yards and one touchdown on 16 rushing attempts and 16 punt returns for a 7.4-yard average.

In three postseason games with the Chiefs, Toney has seven receptions for 50 yards and one touchdown, a 14-yard run and six punt returns for an 18.7-yard average.

Toney played a pivotal role 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 to play made him the third player from an Alabama high school to score in the Super Bowl. Tuscaloosa’s John Stallworth caught three touchdown passes during his four Super Bowl victories with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Stanhope Elmore’s Antowain Smith ran 2 yards for a touchdown in the New England Patriots’ 32-29 victory over the Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII on Feb. 1, 2004.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.