Chiefs trading team MVP Joe Thuney to Chicago Bears. Here’s the impact for KC in 2025
The Kansas City Chiefs are trading away their team MVP from last season.
KC will be trading left guard Joe Thuney — he spent the last four seasons with the Chiefs after signing as a free agent — to the Chicago Bears for a 2026 fourth-round pick, sources confirmed to The Star.
The Athletic’s Dianna Russini was first to report the Chiefs were engaged in trade talks, while NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport first confirmed the trade would occur.
Thuney, 32, is a four-time Super Bowl champion with the Chiefs and New England Patriots and has been a staple on KC’s offensive line at left guard. That was before last season, when KC struggled at left tackle; Thuney volunteered to switch there, starting nine games at the new position in the regular season and playoffs.
Last month, Thuney was named winner of the Chiefs’ Derrick Thomas Award as the team’s most valuable player. He made the Pro Bowl with the Chiefs each of the last three seasons.
The transaction gives KC some much-needed flexibility with the salary cap.
The Chiefs save $16 million in cash and cap by trading Thuney, which can help the team navigate the start of free agency while also trying to complete another task it started.
KC made a surprise move last week to place right guard Trey Smith on the franchise tag, locking him in for a one-year, $23.403 million tender while hoping to work toward a long-term extension.
That move, though, gave KC the most expensive offensive line in football — and that was even without addressing its need at left tackle that cost the Chiefs at the worst time during a 40-22 loss in Super Bowl LIX against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Trading Thuney follows some previous preferences for general manager Brett Veach. For one, he tends to value youth, and keeping the 25-year-old Smith over Thuney — in the last year of his contract — is a maneuver toward investing in the younger guy.
Veach has also insisted this offseason that the Chiefs see a future for 2024 second-round pick Kingsley Suamataia at guard. Suamataia, after starting the season at left tackle for KC, lost the starting job and was moved to guard later in the season. In addition, the Chiefs have liked the development of 2024 fifth-round draft pick Hunter Nourzad, who should provide depth at the interior spots.
KC still has plenty invested in the offensive line, even before figuring out its left tackle spot. Creed Humphrey signed an extension in August to make him the NFL’s top-paid center. Meanwhile, right tackle Jawaan Taylor counts $27.3 million against the cap this season before the Chiefs can potentially move on from him in 2026.
The framework of a potential Smith extension, then, will likely aim to give KC some flexibility this season before getting more expensive in later seasons when the team’s cap has additional wiggle room.
KC has many positions left to address in free agency and the draft, including defensive line, linebacker, running back and receiver.
Wednesday’s move frees up money to make a few more of those moves possible — even if it comes at the cost of losing one of last season’s best and most valuable players.
