Thuney, 32, is entering his 10th season as a NFL left guard. He played his first five seasons with the New England Patriots and the last four with the Kansas City Chiefs, making the All-Pro first team in 2023 and 2024 and the second team in 2019 and 2022.
The Chiefs traded Thuney to the Bears in March for a fourth-round pick in the 2026 draft. He signed a five-year, $80 million contract with the Chiefs in March 2021 and will make $15.5 million in the last year of that contract this season.
“As NFL players, we kind of know what we signed up for,” Thuney told reporters in Chicago in March. “I love K.C. and it was great, but it just is what it is. All I can do now is focus on today and here and Chicago and trying to be the best teammate I can be here. And I had a lot of great messages from K.C., great, positive things. It was obviously nice to hear from a lot of people, but just ready to get going here.”
Thuney has played for six teams that made the Super Bowl and has won four championships. In 2017, he became the first Alter grad to play in the Super Bowl. He played for Alter’s state championship teams in 2008 and 2009 and played at North Carolina State from 2011-15.
With the Bears, Thuney joins an organization that has suffered four straight losing seasons and hasn’t finished above .500 since 2018. He told reporters in March he was surprised to be traded but thought Chicago was a great fit.
“Being in (New England and Kansas City), it just felt like everyone was pulling in the same direction,” Thuney said. “I can feel that here, starting with ownership, management, the coaches. Just meeting everyone, there’s such an intent and such a purpose to win. It makes me excited.”
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