Chiefs trading All-Pro offensive guard Joe Thuney to Bears for 2026 4th-round pick, AP source says

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs are trading two-time All-Pro guard Joe Thuney to the Chicago Bears for a fourth-round pick in the 2026 draft, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade had not been finalized.

The 32-year-old Thuney would have carried a salary cap number of nearly $27 million next season, unless the Chiefs could have worked out a contract extension. That extension is now expected to come from the Bears, who have been working to retool their offensive line to better protect young quarterback Caleb Williams next season.

On Tuesday, the Bears agreed to send a 2025 sixth-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams for Jonah Jackson, a former Pro Bowl offensive guard. Jackson was drafted by the Detroit Lions, where he had played for new Chicago coach Ben Johnson.

Williams was sacked an NFL-high 68 times last season. The Texans’ C.J. Stroud was next with 63 sacks.

Kansas City would have liked to keep the dependable Thuney, who has started all 146 games in his nine NFL seasons. He is a four-time Super Bowl champion, winning two with the Patriots and two with the Chiefs, and has proven to be the consummate team player, even sliding out to left tackle late last season as Kansas City struggled to protect Patrick Mahomes’ blind side.

The trade to Chicago ultimately came down to finances.

By trading Thuney, the Chiefs freed up $16 million in much-needed salary cap space to address other needs. They are still in search of a solution at left tackle — a season-long problem that doomed them in their Super Bowl loss to Philadelphia — along with help at wide receiver, along the defensive line and in the defensive backfield.

The Chiefs placed the franchise tag on Pro Bowl offensive guard Trey Smith on Tuesday, which equates to a one-year deal worth about $23.4 million for next season — unless the sides work out a long-term deal. That effectively makes Smith the highest-paid guard in the NFL next season. And when his salary is combined with the four-year, $72 million deal that center Creed Humphrey signed last fall, the Chiefs have tied up a huge chunk of their cap space in their offensive line.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs have several options to replace Thuney already on the roster.

Mike Caliendo finished the season at his spot once Thuney moved to tackle, though he struggled mightily against the Eagles in the Super Bowl. They also drafted interior lineman Hunter Nourzad in the fifth round of last year’s draft.

The most intriguing possibility, though, may be Kingsley Suamataia, whom the Chiefs drafted in the second round last April in the hopes that he could play left tackle. Suamataia struggled at that position early in the year and was summarily benched, but the Chiefs began to try him at guard during practice and he seemed to flourish at the new spot down the stretch.