By Dianna Russini, Nate Taylor and Kevin Fishbain
The Kansas City Chiefs are trading All-Pro offensive lineman Joe Thuney to the Chicago Bears for a 2026 fourth-round pick, league sources said Wednesday.
Thuney, 32, is coming off back-to-back seasons in which he was named a first-team All-Pro. The nine-year veteran has started 146 of 148 regular-season games since entering the league with the New England Patriots in 2016.
Thuney primarily played left guard since joining the Chiefs as a free agent before the 2021 season. However, with the team struggling to find an answer at left tackle last season, Thuney moved to the outside, staying there through Super Bowl LIX. He is a four-time Super Bowl champion, winning two with New England and two more with the Chiefs.
The move comes after Kansas City franchise-tagged 25-year-old free agent guard Trey Smith.
The Bears’ offseason priority remains clear: protect quarterback Caleb Williams. They acquired guard Jonah Jackson from the Rams on Tuesday, and now add Thuney to their front five.
Chicago’s aggressive offseason
Instead of competing in free agency for mid-tier guards, Bears general manager Ryan Poles went out to get them himself. We’ve seen this from Poles throughout his time as GM, including Tuesday’s trade for Jackson and the 2023 trade for defensive end Montez Sweat (plus a failed acquisition of wide receiver Chase Claypool). The free-agent pool isn’t what it used to be, and the guard class was lacking once Smith got the franchise tag. The draft is unpredictable. The Bears have the cap space and draft capital to be aggressive, and Poles took advantage of Thuney’s availability. Poles was with the Chiefs when they signed Thuney in 2021.
Just like that, Poles has given Williams a serious upgrade on the interior. The Bears haven’t had an offensive lineman go to the Pro Bowl since 2018, and their drought without an All-Pro offensive lineman goes back to 2006 (Olin Kreutz). — Kevin Fishbain, Bears beat writer
(Photo: Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images)
