Source: Bears trade for Chiefs’ All-Pro guard Joe Thuney
CHICAGO — The Bears are trading a 2026 fourth-round pick to the Kansas City Chiefs for two-time All-Pro guard Joe Thuney, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Wednesday.
It’s the second trade the Bears have agreed to in the past 24 hours to beef up their offensive line to provide better protection for quarterback Caleb Williams. On Tuesday, the Bears agreed to a trade with the Los Angeles Rams to acquire guard Jonah Jackson.
Both trades cannot be processed until the start of the NFL’s new league year on March 12.
Thuney was selected as the Chiefs’ MVP last season by his teammates, receiving the Derrick Thomas Award in recognition of his unselfishness by moving to left tackle at the end of the season.
Over nine NFL seasons with the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs, Thuney has missed just two games, starting 146 games. He played 895 snaps at left guard in 2024 before moving to left tackle (217 snaps), where he replaced Wanya Morris beginning in Week 15 and protected Patrick Mahomes’ blind side throughout Kansas City’s run to Super Bowl LIX.
Thuney has the highest pass block win rate (97.8%) in the NFL over the past two seasons.
According to ESPN Research, 94 players had at least 60 pass-block plays with a win or loss at guard last season. Jackson (98.5%) and Thuney (98.2%) had the two highest pass block win rates at guard of that group. Thuney, 32, is coming off back-to-back seasons as a first-team All-Pro selection. He also was selected to his third straight Pro Bowl in 2024.
The Bears have overhauled two-thirds of the interior of their offensive line with less than a week until the start of free agency. All three of Chicago’s primary starters from 2024 — left guard Teven Jenkins, center Coleman Shelton and right guard Matt Pryor — are set to become free agents.
One season after Williams was sacked a league-high 68 times as a rookie, the Bears’ prioritization of pass protection is defining the early days of new head coach Ben Johnson’s tenure.
During his introductory news conference in January, Johnson addressed the importance of building an offensive line the way he witnessed over three seasons as the Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator (2022-24).
“I think offensive line is certainly an area that we need to get better play from going forward, something that [general manager] Ryan [Poles] and I have already talked about,” Johnson said on Jan. 20. “We will develop a plan of attack for how to get that done, but I’m looking forward to getting an excellent offensive line coach in the building to help develop the young talent that we already have on the roster, and we will certainly talk about acquiring talent to bolster that unit as well. But I was certainly blessed the last few years with the men that I worked with. And that was something I would love to replicate here as well.”
Thuney is due $16 million this season, the last of a five-year, $80 million contract he signed with the Chiefs as a free agent in 2021.
The Chiefs placed the nonexclusive franchise tag on guard Trey Smith on Tuesday. The 2025 franchise tender for guards is worth about $23.4 million. The highest-paid guard in the NFL is the Philadelphia Eagles’ Landon Dickerson at $21 million per year, so the tag essentially makes Smith the highest-paid guard in football.
The 2016 third-round pick won two Super Bowls with the Patriots, the team that drafted him, and two with the Chiefs.
Joe Burrow throws a pinpoint pass to defensive end Sam Hubbard in the end zone for a Bengals touchdown vs. the Titans. (0:16)
Longtime Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard announced his retirement Wednesday after seven seasons.
“I want to send a sincere thank you to my teammates, coaches, trainers, support staff, Bengals ownership, and the NFL for everything you all have done for me,” Hubbard said on social media. “I could not have done any of this alone. To the fans — Who Dey Nation — I thank you the most; you inspired me. From the years of struggle and adversity to Super Bowl LVI, you never stopped believing. I hope I made you proud.
“To play my entire career in one uniform is incredibly special to me, and I am a Bengal for life, always have been and always will be.”
Hubbard, who was born in Cincinnati, was the longest-tenured player on the Bengals’ roster. He is the only player on the team who predates the arrival of head coach Zac Taylor, who was hired in 2019.
His 2024 season ended in December when he suffered a torn PCL against the Tennessee Titans on his first career reception — a 2-yard touchdown catch in a 37-27 victory.
But even before then, Hubbard had battled a Grade 3 hamstring injury that he suffered before the start of the regular season. With Cincinnati dealing with other injuries to defensive linemen, Hubbard opted to play through the issue. He finished last season with two sacks in 14 games.
Wednesday’s announcement comes amid the Bengals shedding veteran contracts in anticipation of free agency’s start next week.
Hubbard, 29, was set to represent a $11.5 million salary cap hit in 2025. Had the Bengals cut him, the team would have saved $9.5 million in cap space.
Hubbard played a vital role in the team’s transformation from worst team in the NFL to Super Bowl contender. Between 2021 and 2023, Hubbard was on the field for 2,679 defensive snaps in both the regular season and playoffs, the second-highest total among all defensive linemen during that span, according to ESPN Research.
The Bengals selected Hubbard in the third round of the 2018 draft. He had 38.5 sacks in 104 games. He had another four sacks in seven postseason games. He was voted a team captain in each of the past four seasons.
“Sam always has been and always will be a wonderful part of the Bengals organization and the entire Cincinnati community,” Bengals president Mike Brown said in a statement. “Growing up here, he was a top youth athlete on local gridirons and lacrosse fields before becoming a standout football player at Ohio State. We were fortunate to draft him in 2018, and we immediately knew that we added an outstanding player and an even better person to our team.
“Sam epitomizes what you want in a player — he’s a great teammate, a talented athlete and a passionate community member. He helped us win a lot of football games, and he had a number of very memorable plays over the years. His 98-yard fumble recovery return in the Wild Card win over Baltimore is one of the most iconic touchdowns in team history. It has been my honor to watch him play his entire NFL career for his hometown team. We thank him for the memories he created as ‘Cincinnati’s Own.'”
ESPN’s Ben Baby contributed to this report.
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The New England Patriots’ path toward upgrading their offensive line just got a bit more difficult.
Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach made the tough decision to part ways with Joe Thuney on Wednesday, shipping him to the Chicago Bears for a future fourth-round pick, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Veach’s decision certainly was bold, but necessary given the boot-to-ass performance put on by the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX.
Thuney was forced to play left tackle in that game given the issues his team was facing at the position, and he looked exactly how you’d expect a guy playing out of position to look against an all-time defensive front. The Chiefs realized they needed to make a serious push for a cornerstone tackle, and they wouldn’t have been able to do it without trading the four-time All-Pro guard since they already roster the two highest-paid interior offensive linemen at their position (guard Trey Smith and center Creed Humphrey) in the NFL.
That’s where New England comes into play.
Kansas City just happens to be a bit more desirable of a landing spot for pending free agents — and now has roughly $34 million in cap space. Ronnie Stanley, Cam Robinson and Dan Moore wouldn’t think twice if forced to choose between playing at Arrowhead Stadium or Gillette Stadium — sorry.
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The Patriots need more than just a tackle, though, so this move isn’t all bad.
The Bears have now traded for both Thuney and Jonah Jackson, which essentially takes them off the board when it comes to adding at that position. Teven Jenkins also now is more likely to depart via free agency.
Jenkins, Mekhi Becton, Will Fries, James Daniels, Drew Dalman and Brandon Scherff combine to create one of the deeper free-agent classes along the interior offensive line that we’ve seen, and there’s an argument to be made that even just one would provide a necessary upgrade for New England.
It’s still not going to be easy, though. What else would you expect with the Patriots?
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