Bears-Chiefs trade grades for Joe Thuney deal as Chicago rebuilds its offense line

After their loss in the Super Bowl, many expected the Kansas City Chiefs to overhaul their offensive line. QB Patrick Mahomes was walloped all game and could never get comfortable as the Eagles hammered their way to a Super Bowl victory. However, nobody expected this to be a part of their plan.

According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, the Chiefs are trading All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney to the Chicago Bears for a 4th round pick in 2026.

At first, this news shocked me. Thuney is the Chiefs’ best lineman, coming off a season where he played guard and tackle at a high level when the Chiefs desperately needed him to. However, Thuney is 33 years old and in the last year of his contract, and after giving the franchise tag to Trey Smith and paying center Creed Humphrey a lot of money, having most of your cap on the interior of your offensive line with other holes to fill (especially at left tackle) is probably not the best way to go. Thuney wanted an extension, and he’ll more than likely get one from the Bears. Getting back a 4th round pick in 2026 is also about expected. Thuney’s age and upcoming new deal kept that price down.

On the flip side of this, I really like this for the Bears. They went into the offseason knowing that they needed to spend a lot of resources on their offensive line. They had multiple holes up the spine with their guards and center being very bad, but what they’ve done this offseason is fill the gaps with proven veterans. Acquiring Jonah Jackson from the Bears has some risk given how poor he was last season, but he was playing center and is more of a fit at guard. Add Thuney on top of it and you’ve fixed both guard spots for the short-term future.

Where this really gets interesting is in the NFL Draft. Many assumed the Bears would be picking an offensive linemen with the 10th overall pick, but with both guard spots full, do they still take a swing on tackle? I’m not the biggest believer in LT Braxton Jones, but they might like him enough next to Thuney that it pushes them to draft a complementary pass rusher on defense. In my post-Combine mock draft, I sent them Texas A&M EDGE Shemar Stewart, but Georgia’s Mykel Williams is also in play here. Is this also a sneaky spot for Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty?

In the Chiefs’ case, I wonder if they get aggressive to fix their offensive line. Kingsley Suamataia is going to be filling in at left guard for Thuney, and it would make a lot of sense for them to go and get a tackle in this draft class. In my mock I gave them Ohio State’s Josh Simmons at 31, but that’s incredibly reliant on him falling all the way down there. Could Simmons’ teammate Donovan Jackson be in play here? He’s a guy who started out as a guard, but had an incredible playoff run at tackle and might be seen in the NFL as a tackle. Could the Chiefs trade up for a guy like Missouri’s Armand Membou? Going from 31 to 10 is a massive jump, but for the Chiefs it might be necessary to maintain their stranglehold on the AFC.

Either way it goes, this trade has some pretty big implications on the NFL Draft, and how both teams address free agency.

Chiefs grade: C+

Bears grade: A