What Former Chief Joe Thuney Means to Trey Smith

The Kansas City Chiefs will be sending out right guard Trey Smith without his left guard counterpart Joe Thuney in 2025 after the franchise dealt Thuney to the Chicago Bears for a 2026 fourth round draft pick.

Since Smith broke into the National Football League with the Chiefs in 2021, Thuney was by his side, as the two spent the next four seasons with each other, bringing in two Super Bowl championships in the making. While the Chiefs moved on from Thuney, his impact has lasted within the organization.

Thuney has been a champion everywhere he has gone, collecting championships with both the Chiefs and the New England Patriots. The Chiefs reigning team MVP, as voted by his peers looks to now bring a change to the fans and city of Chicago with the Bears.

While the nature of the Chiefs' offensive line has been shaken up for the foreseeable future, Smith believes he wouldn't be the type of player he is without a player like Thuney by his side. In an interview with First Things First, Smith revealed what Thuney meant to and still means to him as a person and a player.

"Having a veteran guy like Joe Thuney, an All-Pro player, to me a future Hall of Famer, being able to pick his brain, being able to come to him for insight and encouragement as well, it was amazing," Smith said. "It paid off in dividends for my career and who I am as a player but how to be a pro off the field as well."

"My time with Joe it's invaluable to me, man. He's one guy that I regard as one of my closest friends and a brother," Smith said.

Going into the new campaign, the Chiefs will likely lean towards taking an offensive lineman to pair with or behind Smith for the future. The duo that Chiefs Kingdom became accustomed to seeing will now have to be adjusted.

The Chiefs and Bears are not set to face each other this upcoming 2025-26 NFL campaign, but it would be easy to say that the two will keep in close contact, given the relationship built.

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