Chicago Bears trade for All-Pro guard Joe Thuney, sending Kansas City a 2026 fourth-round pick

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles didn’t wait until free agency to get aggressive.

Poles made another trade for his offensive line on Wednesday, one day after the Bears traded for former Rams interior lineman Jonah Jackson.

The Bears on Wednesday traded for All-Pro guard Joe Thuney, as first reported by the NFL Network. The Bears are sending a 2026 fourth-round draft pick to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for Thuney. The deal cannot become official until March 12.

Thuney, 32, instantly gives the Bears a veteran presence along the offensive line. The Bears are also getting a winner.

Thuney is a four-time Super bowl champion. He won two Super Bowls with the New England Patriots and two with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Thuney spent his first five NFL seasons in New England (2016-20) before signing a five-year, $80 million contract with Kansas City ahead of the 2021 season.

He’s coming off his two best seasons as a pro. Thuney earned first-team All-Pro nods in 2023 and 2024. The 2025 season will be the final year on the five-year contract he signed in 2021.

For the Bears, Thuney will likely slot into one of the starting spots at guard. The Bears are set to lose all three of their interior linemen – Teven Jenkins, Coleman Shelton and Matt Pryor – to free agency. Trading for Jackson and Thuney on back-to-back days likely fills two of those starting spots.

It also signals that Poles wanted to get out ahead of free agency. The market for top offensive linemen is going to be expensive when the free agency negotiation period begins Monday.

New Bears head coach Ben Johnson worked with Jackson in Detroit. Poles worked with Thuney in Kansas City. He was the executive director of player personnel in Kansas City when Thuney joined the Chiefs in free agency.