Vikings’ Rival Makes 2 Power Moves via Trade
The Chicago Bears won’t need any offensive guards from free agency; they checked those items off their to-do list this week via trade.
Vikings’ Rival Makes 2 Power Moves via Trade
The Minnesota Vikings’ rival fired off two trades in as many days, one for Los Angeles Rams guard Jonah Jackson on Tuesday and the other for Joe Thuney of the Kansas City Chiefs on Wednesday.
The Bears are fortifying the trenches, a strategy Vikings fans hope the purple team replicates in the coming weeks.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted Tuesday, “Trade: Rams are in the process of sending veteran offensive lineman Jonah Jackson to the Chicago Bears in exchange for a 2025 sixth-round pick, per ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. The trade cannot be processed until March 12.”
About 22 hours later, NFL Network‘s Ian Rapoport tweeted the Thuney domino: “Sources: The Bears are expected to trade for Chiefs All-Pro G Joe Thuney, as Chicago continues to load up on the offensive line. KC gets a bit younger, plus frees up some money to use elsewhere.”
If the Bears make no other offensive line moves this offseason, the 2025 front five would like this:
- LT: Braxton Jones
- LG: Joe Thuney
- C: Ryan Bates
- RG: Jonah Jackson
- RT: Darnell Wright
The power moves from Chicago accompany new head coach Ben Johnson’s arrival, formerly the offensive coordinator of another Vikings and Bears’ rival, the Detroit Lions. In Detroit, Johnson watched as the Lions methodically built the offensive line into one of the NFL’s top units, and now he appears to be pulling strings in Chicago for a replica.
Chicago’s offensive trenches ranked 24th in the league last season, per Pro Football Focus, so general manager Ryan Poles evidently knew his offseason task: beef up the line.
PFF’s Zoltan Buday wrote about the Bears’ OL while assigning the NFL’s ninth-worst ranking: “The Bears may have surrendered the most sacks in the league, but they were ‘only’ the 12th-worst offensive line in PFF pass-blocking efficiency rating (84.1). The unit allowed 180 total pressures on 682 pass plays.”
The Bears drafted USC’s Caleb Williams with the first overall pick last April, and the young passer encountered an up-and-down season. He showed flashes of promise while taking an ungodly amount of sacks and would often prefer a sack to throwing a simple incompletion.
The new hope for the Bears? Jackson and Thuney will provide Williams more time in the pocket.
The Bears have over $65 million to spend on free agents next week, and the OGs are set.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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