The Chicago Bears have agreed to a two-year contract extension with two-time All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney, his agent Mike McCartney announced on Tuesday. The extension will earn Thuney an additional $17.5 million annually, and his three-year deal is now worth $51 million with $33.5 million fully guaranteed at signing.
Thuney was previously on an expiring contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, who traded him to Chicago for a fourth-round pick in order to retain right guard Trey Smith and bolster their left tackle position. Thuney, a four-time Super Bowl champion, will immediately bolster a porous offensive line that will also welcome center Drew Dalman and right guard Jonah Jackson.
Chicago locks in rebuilt interior offensive line for foreseeable future
Chicago is finally trending in the right direction under new head coach Ben Johnson, who served as the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator last season. In Detroit, Johnson established the league’s most potent rushing attack and led the top-scoring offense in the NFL. Much of the Lions’ success was due to their talented offensive line, which opened rushing lanes for running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery and provided quarterback Jared Goff with ample time in the pocket.
In contrast, the Bears took a flawed approach to the 2024 offseason, endlessly stocking up on skill position talent while neglecting their offensive protection. They paired a struggling offensive line with a rookie quarterback who had a propensity for holding onto the bar, which resulted in a league-high 68 sacks and the fifth-worst scoring offense.
The rebuilt interior of the offensive line should allow quarterback Caleb Williams a better opportunity to develop heading into his sophomore season. Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, flashed moments of brilliance during his rookie season, but he largely failed to live up to his billing as a generational prospect.
Williams is attempting to break a longstanding history of poor quarterback play in the Windy City. Chicago famously has never had a 4,000-yard passing season from a quarterback, but their struggles go far beyond that. The Bears haven’t had a first-team All-Pro quarterback since 1950, and their last true franchise quarterback was Sid Luckman, who helped revolutionize the forward pass in the 1940s.
The Bears also signed cornerback Kyler Gordon, linebacker T.J. Edwards and guard Jonah Jackson to multi-year contract extensions this offseason, ensuring much of the team’s young core will stay in Chicago for years to come.