Offensive line makeover continues for Bears with trade for 2-time All-Pro Joe Thuney

Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune on Mar 5, 2025

Published in Football

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

CHICAGO — A day after finalizing a trade for an offensive lineman who worked previously with new coach Ben Johnson, the Chicago Bears are wheeling and dealing again.

The Bears acquired Joe Thuney from the Kansas City Chiefs on Wednesday morning in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick in 2026. That gives Johnson and the Bears two veteran guards to play in front of quarterback Caleb Williams a week before NFL free agency begins.

Thuney, 32, is a four-time Super Bowl champion and has been named first-team All-Pro twice. He has one year remaining on his contract at $16 million, and it’s worth wondering if the Bears will explore the possibility of an extension.

On Tuesday, the Bears traded a 2025 sixth-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams for Jonah Jackson, who was dumped one year after signing a three-year, $51 million contract in free agency. The Bears will pay the 28-year-old Jackson $17.5 million this season and he’s due $17 million in 2026, although the team has an out if desired.

The Bears have cost certainty with Thuney and Jackson, but for now at least, they’re short-term fixes at a position that has experienced long-term problems.

Both will provide needed leadership in the locker room. Jackson was part of the Detroit Lions turnaround, and Thuney has spent his nine-year career with the New England Patriots (2016-20) and Chiefs. That’s one thing the Bears have lacked at Halas Hall — leaders who actually have experienced winning in the NFL.

The Chiefs used the franchise tag on right guard Trey Smith, and trading Thuney, whom they signed in free agency in 2021, creates flexibility. The Bears need to hope they haven’t been outfoxed by two of the better-run front offices in the league in Kansas City and Los Angeles.

Thuney has a track record for durability. He has missed only two games in his career since the Patriots drafted him in the third round in 2016 out of North Carolina State. Jackson, however, missed 13 games last season with the Rams because of a shoulder injury and a benching. He also missed a combined nine games over the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

There’s no question Williams has better protection now than he did, and Thuney appears to have more football left in him than other highly decorated linemen the Bears brought in late in their careers, such as Orlando Pace and Jason Peters.

But the Bears almost certainly will have to pay Thuney, and they still need to find legitimate foundational pieces for the future, something they can accomplish via the draft.

____