We are still a few days away from the start of NFL free agency, but the Chicago Bears have been busy.
General manager Ryan Poles made a move on Tuesday to acquire Los Angeles Rams interior offensive lineman Jonah Jackson by trading a 2025 sixth-round pick. With Jackson likely coming in and manning one of the starting spots, the Bears figure to have two more starting jobs to fill up front.
Poles had already made the Bears' offseason a whole lot easier with just this one trade, but it appears as though he and the Bears are far from done entertaining trades this week. From the looks of it, Chicago is going to fill yet another starting spot on their offensive line before free agency opens up.
Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Bears are trading for Kansas City Chiefs Pro Bowl guard Joe Thuney.
The Joe Thuney trade is a home run for the Bears, but with a caveat
For fans who have been paying attention for a while now, Thuney is a four-time Super Bowl champion. He has made three-straight Pro Bowls, currently, with the Chiefs.
However, after Thuney made the switch to tackle late last year, he started to struggle. He had a hard time keeping up, to say the least.
He's coming to Chicago as a guard, though, which is where he's played his entire career. He might still be the best guard in all of football.
Yes, he's going to be 33 years old. But, we're talking about a player who has missed a total of two regular season games his entire career. This is a move the Bears hopefully make with an intent to lock Thuney up for another one or two seasons on an extension.
If the Bears are able to keep him around longer than just the one year remaining on his contract, you cannot praise Ryan Poles enough for a trade like this.
Having already traded for two starting offensive linemen, the Bears now enter free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft needing just one starter. The complete 180 Poles has done with the Bears' offensive line, in just a matter of hours, is astounding.
Poles and the Bears are clearly not messing around, this offseason. Between the hiring of Ben Johnson, his coaching staff and now the pair of aggressive trades, Poles is done being questioned. He's ready to spend.
It's about time.