MAY 27: Thuney’s fourth contract (when the 2020 franchise tag is counted) pays out its guarantees by 2026. The accomplished blocker will be due a $1MM roster bonus in March 2027, according to Spotrac. That will help the Bears determine if they want to keep Thuney around for an age-35 season, but he effectively ensured status on the 2026 Bears’ roster via this re-up. Though, Thuney’s cap hit will climb from $8MM this year to $21.5MM in 2026 and ’27.
MAY 20: Before making his Bears debut, Joe Thuney has a new deal in hand. The All-Pro guard agreed to terms on a two-year extension, his agent announced on Tuesday. 
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports this pact is worth $35MM and brings Thuney’s scheduled earnings up to $51MM over the next three seasons. $33.5MM is fully guaranteed at signing. Rather than entering the coming season as a pending free agent, Thuney is now on the books through 2027. To no surprise, this agreement will lower his 2025 cap hit, with Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune noting it will be cut in half to $8MM.
The 32-year-old represented a key element of the Bears’ multi-faceted efforts to improve along the interior of the offensive line. He, like fellow guard Jonah Jackson, was acquired via trade in March prior to the outset of free agency. Those two are set to join free agent signing Drew Dalman, who departed the Falcons on the open market to take on center duties in Chicago.
After a strong five-year run in New England to begin his career, Thuney enjoyed plenty of individual and team success during his time with Kansas City. He added another two Super Bowl titles to his resume with the Chiefs while earning a Pro Bowl nod during each of the past three seasons. That stretch includes the 2024 campaign, during which Thuney took on left tackle duties out of necessity with the team’s other blindside options falling short of expectations.
That setup proved to be effective enough for the Chiefs until their Super Bowl loss, one which did not damper Thuney’s value. Kansas City’s need to budget for a Trey Smith commitment at the other guard spot – which to date consists of using the franchise tag with an extension likely coming in the near future – resulted in the Thuney trade, though. The NC State product was dealt to the Bears in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round pick. He will handle his familiar left guard spot, with Jackson moving over to the RG position upon arrival in Chicago.
At first, Thuney was non-committal about signing an extension prior to the start of the 2025 season. In April, however, general manager Ryan Poles made it clear a new deal on this front was a team priority. Jackson inked a one-year extension shortly after he was acquired, and today’s move means both of Chicago’s guards are under contract until the 2028 offseason. The same is also true of Dalman.
Pass protection was a major issue for the Bears in 2024; improved play from quarterback Caleb Williams in Year 2 will depend in large part on the team’s ability to deliver stronger play up front. New head coach Ben Johnson named changes along the interior of the O-line as something to watch for upon arrival. That took place on multiple fronts, and now all three of the unit’s new faces are attached to overlapping multi-year pacts.
Nice! 2 year extension, given his age, is perfect AND this should create some more cap space.
Good deal for all involved. The Chiefs can’t sign everyone so they needed to replace some veterans with less expensive youth. The Bears definitely needed to sure up the oline in front of Williams and now have a high caliber interior lineman for two more years. Thuney ended up somewhere that had the need and space to give him his worth for a couple years towards the twilight of his career. Thuney has a lot left the Chiefs simply moved him for cap reasons not performance if there wasn’t a cap he’d still be a Chief. It’s tough in the NFL to get to the top and stay there. Outside of a franchise QB very few players will finish their career with the team they shared so much success with
The unfortunate thing is the Chiefs paid big for two very middling tackles and b/c of that are now getting pinched on the interior. They seem to draft interior olineman well, but can’t figure out the tackles.
Well it does open up 8 million in Cap space for this year which was desperately needed so they should have 10 million or so to operate with after signing their 3 second round picks. It kicks money down the road which I’m never in favor of but it had to be done. Poles has always managed to keep at least 10 million in reserve in case of injuries. I’ll go with what they have at RB rather than sign a FA injury prone guy. See what they have first and who gets cut first rather than start off with a walking injury. Besides Johnson might already be one of those guys. Plus that UDFA kid Hankins looks like a human bulldozer which they haven’t had lately. Hopefully Wheeler comes back at least for the practice squad.
They have ~$14M with this extension, but need to sign three 2nd rounders and Loveland so they should have ~$7M after that for depth additions.
Loveland is signed already. So like I said it’s 10.
The bears will actually have around $13M after signing the 2 2nd rounders. Those 2 players will push 2 other players off the top 51 that have around a 1M cap hit. So the difference is probably a little under 2M in cap hit change. So you both are wrong 😊
Wake up people. the Bears have 3 second rounders left to sign. Go to Sportrac, NFL Chicago Bears. Line 17 Colston Loveland. below at the bottom what it’s expected to take to sign 3 second rounders. Thuney’s salary isn’t official yet so it hasn’t been factored in. It’s afternoon you should all be awake.
Sorry Spotrac.
Let me spell out so there’s no more 2nd grade math:
Bears have 7.5 million available right now.
If Thuney saves 8 million like they say makes it 15.5
Signing the 3 2nd rounders is a cap hit of almost 5 million
So 15.5 minus 5 =10.5.
Trading Billings and cutting Bates would save another 7.5 million which is a no brainer IMO because I don’t think they’re needed anymore.
So this isn’t Rocket Science.
Obviously it’s rocket science to you because you’re completely forgetting the 3 players that the 2nd rounders are replacing. The difference in cap hit between the 2nd rounders and the players they are replacing are roughly 700k. So 3 x 700k is 2.1M. 15.8M – 2.1M is 13.7M. It’s actually pretty simple!!
It will actually be a bit over 14M. The 2 late 2nd rounders will replace 2 players in the top 51 will pretty similar cap hits. So again, you’re wrong
You’re really not the sharpest knife in the drawer are you? Who are they replacing? The Bears roster stands at 87. with Tory Taylor exempt which will give them 91. So math is really hard for you isn’t it? 87 +3= ? Class? Yep 90. It might swing a tad when you figure in top 51 but not enough to matter. Stick to 1+1 because higher numbers are out of your League. My God. I mean it’s all there on the Spotrac page if you can read and comprehend.
Oh boy…this guy doesn’t realize only the top 51 players are counted against the cap. So again, this seems to be difficult for you but burden, ozzy and Turner aren’t counted against the cap currently. Once they are. They will be replacing 3 guys at the bottom of the top 51. So the difference in cap hit between the 3 players they will be replacing is going to be under 2M. Please keep up, it’s not very difficult to understand!
Btw numbers are kind of my thing. I don’t mind educating you. So, if you have any other questions on how the cap space works, feel free to ask!
I’m hoping you’re starting to understand. Maybe try not being so ignorant while being wrong. It’s okay to be wrong once in a while. Now you learned something 👍🏼
Moron
I sincerely hope you’re not a teacher because that would explain why kids are idiots today. Wow. Numbers are you’re thing? Uhhh No they’re not.
Hahahaha…this idiot just won’t admit when he’s wrong, poor guy. Who said I was a teacher? Of course someone like you would come to that conclusion. Education wasn’t very important to you I see. Don’t let your pride get in the way here. You know 100% that I’m right. Again, I’m glad I can educate you.
Well gee here we are. Thuney’s deal is figured in and the Bears have 15.5 million now. The 3 2nd rounders they have will cost 4.75 million with an average of a little over 1 million apiece for a cap hit. The Bears 51st player is making a little over a million. So tell me Einstein how much is gonna change mister numbers are my thing? Uh again, No they’re not. You’re a fool. All the 2nd rounders in the league basically haven’t signed not because of total money because that’s cast in stone but guaranteed money which is what runs the NFL. WA!KE UP
Look guy, I don’t want to keep beating a dead horse here. If you’re really this slow and can’t understand that I’m correct that they will have 14 million in space after the 2nd rounders sign…I don’t think anyone can help you. Maybe this will help. Let’s just say the average cap hit of the 3 2nd rounders will be 1.5 million for 2025. So they replace 3 players on the top 51. Now remember, the top 51 players are the ones that count against the cap. So those 3 players they replace let’s say have a 1 million cap hit for 2025. So 4.5 million is replacing 3 million, right? You following so far? 4.5 – 3 = 1.5 million. Now let’s take that 1.5 million off the current cap space. 15.5 – 1.5 = 14. Like I said before, education doesn’t seem like it was really important to you. Crazy that I had to literally spell it out for you
Lmao I just realized that in your head it made sense that 3 players were only going to replace 1 player 😂😂😂. Not how that works, not sure how anyone would think that’s how it works. Those 3 players are replacing the 51st, 50th and 49th. Being smart is definitely not your thing lol, come on man. This is just too easy
Joe Thuney’s career will be highlighted by those he protected & Won with. Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes & Caleb Williams. What a list.
Everything is falling nicely into place for the Bears …and that’s when I worry the most:)
Yeah. They’re actually operating like they know what they’re doing. It’s like opposite day.
They have the White Sox and the Blackhawks as a model of what not to do… so that should help.
Pretty sure you mean the Sox and Bulls. Hawks have made their mistakes, but Bears fans would gladly take the Hawks run of excellence for the next decade.
Sorry, I demand more than the Hawks run (which really was not much of one). I want to see the Bears have consistency of the Packers.. about 30 years of dominance overall, the ability to replace players with the same or better players, the ability to sniff out a good QB when needed, and being consistently good. I get its an ‘in city’ comparison but the Hawks is still aiming too low.. Hecka New England type run would obviously be wanted, but I would simply be happy to see the Bears win a SB at least once every 10 years, and be consistently competitive during the other times. As much as I like the Bears teams of the 2000’s, Lovie teams were feast or famine, and either made the playoffs or were a joke.
So 3 Stanley Cups in 3 appearances and multi Conference finals in a 10 year period isn’t aiming high enough for you? As Charles Bronson said to Yul Brynner in the Magnificent 7, ” I admire your notion of fair odds mister”.
Magnificent 7 was…well magnificent, but I still think Bronson was at his best in this movie link to youtube.com
That was one of the All time great westerns. Probably drew it out longer than it had to be but…………. Still great.
Well deserved