How does the old saying go? If you love something (or someone), you have to set it free? Well, when the news broke on Wednesday morning that the Chiefs would be trading All-Pro guard Joe Thuney to the Chicago Bears for a 2026 fourth-round draft pick, I was personally a little caught off guard—no pun intended. I'm sure the same can be said for many fans in Chiefs Kingdom. The move felt eerily similar to the Tyreek Hill trade from 2022 in that no one really saw it coming until the rumors broke that morning, and by the time anyone had a chance to process the information, the deed was done.
The move doesn't signal the end of an era for Kansas City as much as it does another seismic shift in roster construction from GM Brett Veach. The Chiefs played well enough up front to win their fifth AFC Championship in six seasons in 2024 but clearly didn't have enough in the tank in Super Bowl 59 against an unbelievably filthy Eagles defensive line. What dominoes will fall in a post-Thuney world in Kansas City? That remains to be seen, but if I were one of those old Native American trackers who had their ear to the ground, I'd imagine we'd feel some rumblings of big things coming.
Nonetheless, the Joe Thuney "era" in Kansas City is done. He won't leave Kansas City empty-handed, though. To add to the two Super Bowls he won as a member of the New England Patriots, Thuney was a stalwart at guard for the Chiefs in their Super Bowl conquests in 2022 and 2023. He racked up three All-Pro roster appearances (Second Team in 2022 and First Team in 2023 and 2024) and three Pro Bowls. His greatness at his position has been so unparalleled that if you add up his Lombardi trophies, All-Pro, and Pro Bowl appearances over the past three seasons (8), he would have more hardware on his personal trophy shelf than he had penalties accepted in that same time frame (6).
Joe Thuney's presence on and off the field has been a cornerstone for the Chiefs dynasty.
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Thuney was nearly flawless on the field, ranking at or near the top of all guard-centric metrics across the league this entire time in Kansas City. In four seasons, he missed just two starts for the Chiefs. He played no less than 97% of the team's offensive snaps in each of his four seasons. In over 1,100 offensive snaps in 2024, Thuney didn't allow a single sack on Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. In a season where the Chiefs' offensive line was subject to much scrutiny by both the media and the fanbase, Thuney was the team's MVP.
Thuney stood up and stood out as the leader of a unit that allowed Mahomes and the offense to yet again march through the AFC playoffs. His shift to left tackle at the end of the regular season and throughout the postseason was something that legends are made of, and it will one day be talked about when he is enshrined in both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Chiefs Ring of Honor.
As impressive as Thuney is on the field, he is arguably more impressive off of it. There are stories about Thuney's intelligence that are borderline unbelievable. A story cited by our good friend Matt Verderame after the Patriots drafted Thuney was [about his performance on the Wonderlic test](https://x.com/MattVerderame/status/1155916624005861385). Thuney had been advised by many that he didn't want to come off as "too intelligent" to pro scouts during the draft process. To remedy this, Thuney was advised to only answer 39 of the 50 questions on the Wonderlic. His score? A 39. He graduated **cum laude** from NC State in just three years with a degree in accounting and a minor in Spanish and earned his MBA from Indiana while he was with the Patriots.
Thuney seems like an absolutely lovable giant—the kind of friend that many of us had growing up. The biggest kid in the class, who is also somehow the smartest and most level-headed. Do you think Joe Thuney ever got in any fights or lost his temper when he was younger? Maybe, but based on his demeanor, I highly doubt it. Thuney appears to be just a regular, somewhat dorky dude with regular, somewhat dorky interests—except with a very irregular and extremely rare combination of mental and physical ability. It is bold of me to call a 6'5", 304-lb, All-Pro, certified savage "dorky," but I mean it with the utmost respect and admiration. Genuinely. Seeing him obsessing over chess matches with Justin Reid on an episode of _The Franchise_ last season really drove that home for me.
Joe Thuney is a player that Chiefs Kingdom will never forget because he is, without question, one of the best offensive linemen ever to put on a Chiefs uniform. His accolades on and off the field are remarkable, and if you're looking for someone to point to as a role model for your children, it's him. Nothing but the best to Joe Thuney in his future, and we can only hope he chooses to go into Canton as a Chief when he gets that fateful knock on his door one day.