Kansas City Chiefs guard Joe Thuney is reportedly set to join the Chicago Bears in a blockbuster trade.
The four-time Super Bowl champion’s $80million contract runs until the end of the 2025 season.
GettyThuney is hugely admired in Kansas City and New England[/caption]
Thuney, who was deployed as an emergency left tackle last season, has been a vital figure protecting Patrick Mahomes since 2021.
But The Athletic’s Dianna Russini is reporting that he will now be charged with keeping Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams clean in his sophomore season.
The No.1 pick was sacked a league-high 68 times last season and Chicago’s new-look staff under head coach Ben Johnson have made giving him help a priority.
ESPN claims the Los Angeles Rams will send guard Jonah Jackson to the Windy City in exchange for a six-round pick in April’s NFL Draft when the new season officially begins on March 12.
UNC coach Bill Belichick invited Reid onto his Let’s Go podcast to before the Chiefs’ Super Bowl defeat and discussed Thuney’s move.
“Bill let me have Joe Thuney so I appreciated that,” Reid said. “That kid, we have him out at left tackle now. Bill, you had him as an All-Pro center, All-Pro guard, now he’s out there at left tackle and he doesn’t say a word about it. He doesn’t complain.
“That’s a whole different world out there. There’s no security blanket when you’re on that side. That’s a tough spot. But he just steps in and goes.”
Thuney was drafted in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft by Belichick’s Patriots and reached the Super Bowl in his first three seasons, winning two of them.
Per ESPN’s Mike Reiss, he was the first player ever to do so.
The 32-year-old’s versatility across the line was shown when he played as an emergency center and Belichick is a huge fan.
“That’s just the kind if guy he is,” he said. “He’s just gonna line up and play and you’re gonna get his best on every snap. And you know what, it’s good enough.”
Thuney was named a Second-Team All-Pro in 2019 and joined the Chiefs on a bumper five-year, $80million contract in 2021.
“I mean, he’s played every position on the offensive line and wherever we need him, he’s willing to go out there and do it,” he said on ‘The Drive.’
“And that’s what champions do. They just go out there, they compete for every single snap and try to make their team better.
“So Joe Thuney is gonna go down in the history of football as one of the greatest players with all those Super Bowl rings he has, hopefully we can add to that collection.”
