I can’t think of too many people who were disappointed when they heard the news last week that the Chicago Bears were trading for Joe Thuney. Thuney has been an excellent player for a decade and was still earning All-Pro honors in 2024.
If you listen to Andy Reid talk about him, you can tell he’s a player the Kansas City Chiefs certainly didn’t want to get away, but the Chiefs were strapped for cash. Reid was a guest on The Bettor Angle on the all-new BetMGM Network and discussed his thoughts on Thuney and how he will fit in Chicago.
“He’s one of my favorite all-time guys that I’ve coached,” Reid stated. “He’s just a good dude, just an all-around good dude. He’s tough, just gritty, gritty tough. He’s going to do a heck of a job for Chicago. He still can play.”
Reid went on to explain that this move was strictly a salary cap move and had nothing to do with Thuney’s on-field performance.
“The thing you have to do is you have to manage this cap thing, it’s a nightmare that way. If you’re not going to push a ton of money forward, then you’ve got to manage the cap and try to keep consistent with this whole winning thing and it’s not an easy thing to manage. Sometimes you have to make these decisions, and it just kicks you right in the butt.”
Losing Thuney is certainly one of those decisions that kicked the Chiefs in the butt. Reid hopes that some of his younger players will be able to fill the role vacated by Thuney, but what was also interesting is that he mentioned that Thuney had a desire to come to Chicago to play.
“It gave us an opportunity to move Joe, and move him into a place where he wanted to come to. At the same time, we took care of ourselves but we were able to take care of Joe that way.”
The Bears only had to give up a future fourth-round pick to land Thuney. Perhaps the price was so affordable because the Chiefs were trying to do right by Joe (to steal a line from Ryan Poles).
Regardless, Thuney is now in Chicago and arguably immediately becomes the Bears' best offensive lineman.