Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles embarked on a mission to revamp their offensive line this offseason, and a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs for Joe Thuney speaks to that. However, there are questions about Thuney entering Year 10, even as he once again lands among the top-10 interior linemen.
Thuney is a four-time Super Bowl champion, winning with the Chiefs and New England Patriots. He is also a three-time Pro Bowler and a two-time All-Pro selection.
He is also on the wrong side of 30, which often invites talk of a potential decline.
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ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler relayed the network’s annual list. The 2025 edition consisted of 70 participants ranging from front office personnel, coaches, and scouts. Thuney landed sixth, two spots below his 2024 ranking, with his highest spot being first place.
At the same time, his lowest ranking was being left off the list entirely, a nod to the work he has done and the uncertainty of what lies ahead.
According to an anonymous executive, Thuney is “All technique, instincts and smarts.”
That exec said, per Fowler on July 12, that Thuney’s “physical skills are on the decline,” and his fall in the poll seemingly bolsters that claim. Another executive noted that Thuney is not the strongest player, but did commend the veteran’s “versatility.”
“One of most impressive football feats of the 2024 NFL season was Thuney, at 6-foot-5 and 304 pounds, successfully transitioning from guard to left tackle late in the season. The Chiefs were in a bind, and the offensive line needed help, and Thuney stabilized it,” Fowler wrote. “Thuney is always among the best statistically — his 96.4 pass block win rate is tied for first among guards with Denver’s Ben Powers — but his versatility was on full display last year.”
Notably, Pro Football Focus gave Thuney the second-highest offensive grade of his career, perhaps due to that versatility. Just as notable, his pass-blocking grade was his fourth-worst.
He set a career-high in run-blocking grade to balance out his final mark.
This marks the second consecutive drop for Thuney, though it was noted in 2024 that his fall was partly due to younger, even more versatile players emerging. That edition also noted Thuney’s “grip strength,” potentially alleviating concerns about his overall power.
Bears Took Big Risk With OL Overhaul
The Bears signed Thuney to a two-year, $35 million contract extension. They also surrendered a fourth-round pick in 2026 to the Chiefs in the trade for Thuney. He is expected to solidify their interior for quarterback Caleb Williams.
Chicago’s work to address their offensive line created split reviews, with ESPN’s Seth Walder giving them a “B-”.
That is despite largely liking who they brought in.
“I was fine with the Thuney trade,” Walder wrote on July 10, noting that he might have preferred not extending the veteran. “[Drew] Dalman’s deal was also fine, even if it was a shade higher than I might have wanted to spend.
“But the [Jonah] Jackson trade was one of the most inexplicable moves of the offseason.”
The Bears traded a 2025 sixth-rounder for Jackson and extended him, giving him a three-year, $44 million extension and guaranteeing him $7 million in 2026.
Jackson was benched by the Los Angeles Rams in 2024 after they tried him at guard. However, his experience with Bears head coach Ben Johnson during their time together with the Detroit Lions, when Jackson earned Pro Bowl honors, could get the lineman back on the right track.
The Bears face a financial crunch in 2026, though, so their aggressive moves will have a price.
Dalman inked a three-year, $42 million deal in free agency. He also landed a spot on the top-10 IOL list, landing among the “others receiving votes” category.
Dalman, Jackson, and Thuney can all be cut post-June 1 in 2027. That would save the Bears $42 million, with $10.5 million in dead cap, per Over The Cap.