The Chicago Bears — a day after finalizing a trade for an offensive lineman new coach Ben Johnson has worked with previously — are wheeling and dealing again.
On Wednesday morning, the team acquired Joe Thuney from the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2026. That gives Johnson and the Bears two veteran guards to play in front of quarterback Caleb Williams with moves a week before the NFL’s free-agency season 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 are going to explore the possibility of an extension.
On Tuesday, the team traded a sixth-round pick this year to the Los Angeles Rams for Jonah Jackson, who was dumped one year after signing a $51 million, three-year 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 club would have an out if desired.
The Bears have cost certainty with Thuney and Jackson but, at least right now, they’re short-term fixes at a position that has experienced long-term problems. Both will provide needed leadership in the room. Jackson was part of the turnaround with the Detroit Lions and Thuney has spent his career in Kansas City and New England. That’s one thing the Bears have lacked in the locker room at Halas Hall — leaders who actually have experienced winning in the NFL.
The Chiefs used the franchise tag on right guard Trey Smith and the trade of Thuney, who they signed in free agency in 2021, creates some flexibility. The Bears need to hope they have not 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 chose 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 benching. He missed nine games combined over the 2023 and 2022 seasons as well.
There’s no question Williams has better protection now than he did, and Thuney looks to have more football left in him than some other highly decorated linemen the Bears have brought in late in their careers like Orlando Pace and Jason Peters.
But the Bears almost certainly have to pay Thuney and they still need to find legitimate foundational pieces for the future, something that can still be accomplished via the draft.
