Every expletive in every language I've learned fell from my lips when Ian Rapoport's tweet about Joe Thuney's trade to Chicago alerted my iPhone.
Of all the Kansas City Chiefs' linemen, Joe Thuney had more capital than any after having shfited from his natural guard position to the depleted left tackle spot late in 2024. Thuney has won more Super Bowls than anyone on the team—save for defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo—due to his New England tenure, so why will he be blown to the Windy City?
The Thuney trade makes sense for Chicago, being that Trey Smith was stolen from the market by the same front office that just completed the deal. Smith made more sense for the Bears as the youthful option, but Thuney also provides a veteran presence that is much needed in key areas of the Bears' roster. The fourth-round pick return for the All-Pro's services seems light, but when you factor in his $26.9 million cap hit going into 2025 and the Chiefs' desire for flexibility, the Thuney-Chiefs experience is a heartbreaking yet depressingly necessary breakup.
Brett Veach deserves to be mentioned among the upper echelon of general managers and decision-makers in football. Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid don't achieve this level of success without the feverish scouting department and pro personnel efforts led by Veach. He's earned a level of respect few have at his age, with the fist full of rings to prove it. The meteoric rise of the secondary can be attributed to Steve Spagnuolo's staff, but those players wouldn't have reached the door had Veach not selected them in the late-ish rounds of the draft.
"In Veach We Trust" grew as a rallying cry for some Chiefs fans who had been hurt before by unreasonable decisions damaging the team. Veach's decision-making is clearly stolen from the pages of the best chess savants in the world because the layman (including myself) has tremendous difficulty understanding them.
To me, it looks like the Kansas City Chiefs are trading one of their best players who stepped in when the team needed him the most. There isn't a clear succession plan for the position he shifted to, and now there's a void in his role as well. The financial nimbleness would be wonderful if assurances were in place to supercharge the offense or make a huge defensive splash, like trading for Myles Garrett, but none of that exists—or is clear at this point.
All we have to rely on in early March is that same mantra: "in Veach We Trust."