Bears trade for All-Pro guard Joe Thuney |
Dustin Riese
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- 12 hours ago
For the first time in Ryan Poles tenure as the Chicago Bears GM, he prioritizes fixing the offensive line before taking care of other needs. Yes, Poles has tried to address the offensive line via the draft, but apart from Darnell Wright, none of those picks have worked in his favor.
You then have to look at his free-agent pickups last season, which were not only short-term deals, but none made a massive difference in Chicago. Knowing that the future of Caleb Williams and the Bear's offense depends on the protection up front, Poles has been highly aggressive leading up to the NFL's New Year and traded away a sixth-round pick for Jonah Jackson on Tuesday. That was only the beginning, as Poles doubled down to make his second trade in as many days. The Bears have acquired Kansas City Chiefs guard Joe Thuney for a fourth-round pick. Once again, this trade can't become official until March 12, but to see the Bears focus on the offensive line this early and give up next to nothing to get deals done is promising. When discussing some of the best guards in the NFL, Thuney has to be in that conversation, as the 32-year-old has been performing at a high level for quite some time. The soon-to-be 10th-year player signed a massive five-year 80 million-dollar contract with the Chiefs ahead of the 2021 season after spending the first five years of his career with the New England Patriots. Thuney will become a free agent following the 2025 season, meaning the Bears will only have his services for one season. That's not ideal, especially considering his $26.9 million cap hit for the season, but the Bears could extend him if he performs well enough to earn it. Initially, he was a guard when he broke into the league, but the Chiefs decided to move him to offensive tackle last season as the Chiefs had their offensive line issues to deal with. Much of that had to do with the Chiefs' internal options, which didn't perform well enough to stay at tackle, so Thuney was moved to tackle to stabilize the pass protection. When you look at his season, not only did Thuney make a seamless transition, but he performed far better than anyone thought he would, which leads to the question of whether or not he will remain at tackle or move back to guard. Across his 365 pass-blocking snaps last season, Thuney allowed just 35 pressures and two sacks. Considering how badly the Chiefs offensive line performed in the Superbowl, Thuney's performance throughout the season shows how well he played. That has to be promising for the Bears heading into the season. Not only did Thuney perform well last season at a new position, but he has also been very durable throughout his nine-year career. Thuney started 146 games in those nine seasons, which is close to 15 or 16 games per season. That durability alone makes this pickup a massive upgrade for the Bears, as Chicago has dealt with far too many injuries across the line. Those injuries have led to a lack of overall protection, but even when healthy, the Bears' offensive line wasn't great. The addition of Thuney and Jackson the past two days gives the Bears two starting guards heading into 2025 and has also moved them from a bottom-third offensive line to the middle of the back. Should they add another lineman through free agency or the draft, this offensive line could emerge as a top-10 unit next season. This is one of those times when you have to give credit where credit is due, and Poles deserves a ton of credit for what he has done the past two days. He added two of the better guards in the NFL and did it while giving up a fourth- and sixth-round pick. That alone is laughable, as the Bears gave up next to nothing to get two outstanding players. If this is a sign of things to come for the Bears this offseason, it will be an exciting time in Chicago, as they seem ready to make the moves necessary to become contenders again. March 12 can't come sooner enough in the Windy City, as that is the day these deals become official and free agency gets underway. After landing two starting guards, the Chicago Bears still have $50+ million in free agency. That number can move much higher with some restructuring, as well. Expect Poles to continue to be aggressive next week. #NFLFreeAgency
