Dynasties eventually die. In the case of the New England Patriots, they morph.
For the Kansas City Chiefs, they’ve already changed once and succeeded. Now, they will try to find another life as the team they took the torch from did so many times over.
On Wednesday, the Chiefs traded four-time All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney to the Chicago Bears, and received a 2026 fourth-round pick and $16 million of cap relief in return.
From afar, it’s an odd move. In Super Bowl LIX, Kansas City’s offensive line held up about as well as a wet newspaper, giving up six sacks despite the Philadelphia Eagles never blitzing. Yet in reality, the trade was a necessity after using the franchise tag on Pro Bowl right guard Trey Smith, who is seven years younger than Thuney and in line for a record-setting extension at some point this offseason.
While the Chiefs could have technically made it work by quickly extending Smith to lower his current $23.4 million cap hit, that deal may take time. And if it does, moving on from Thuney created meaningful cap space while also giving Kansas City value in return before losing him in free agency after the 2025 season.
As the Chiefs sit, they’re actually $2.9 million over the salary cap. After an expected restructuring of Patrick Mahomes’s contract, Kansas City can save up to $38 million. But had Thuney’s $26.9 million cap hit remained on the books, it would have been difficult to improve the roster in a meaningful way before the draft.
Ultimately, this offseason marks a sea change for the Chiefs.
On the bright side, the three-time defending AFC champs have dealt with this before.
After losing Super Bowl LV in a similar fashion to February’s debacle against the Eagles, general manager Brett Veach rebuilt the offensive line by signing Thuney and drafting eventual All-Pro center Creed Humphrey and Smith. A year later, after blowing a 21–3 lead in the AFC championship game to the Cincinnati Bengals, Veach traded away All-Pro receiver Tyreek Hill before letting star defensive backs Charvarius Ward and Tyrann Mathieu leave in free agency.
The result? Kansas City reached the Super Bowl in each of the three seasons since, winning two of them to secure its place as one of the all-time NFL dynasties.
The challenge for Veach is to make magic again. Thuney is gone. Travis Kelce is returning, but the future first-ballot Hall of Fame tight end is likely done after next season. On defense, the Chiefs have a litany of impact free agents including safety Justin Reid, defensive end Charles Omenihu, defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton and linebacker Nick Bolton. There’s cap space and cash for a few, but not all.
Then there’s the matter of that ever-pesky offensive line. The unit has pillars in Humphrey and Smith, but questions surround them. Right tackle Jawaan Taylor will be there for another season, but it’s very likely Veach will release him after the 2025 season to save $20 million. On the left side, second-year man Kingsley Suamataia will convert from left tackle to guard after struggling as a rookie, but whether he can handle the adjustment is an open question.
Finally, who is playing left tackle? The Chiefs have reached five Super Bowls in the past six seasons, and every time there’s been a different starter on Mahomes’s blindside. In 2019, it was Eric Fisher. In the ’20 AFC title game, Fisher ruptured his Achilles tendon, leading to Mike Remmers playing in his spot. Two years later, it was Orlando Brown Jr.’s turn before giving way to Donovan Smith in ’23. Finally, Thuney filled the spot in Super Bowl LIX with D.J. Humphries being injured.
For Veach, it’s time to figure out the position on a long-term basis. But it won’t be easy.
Unlike last year’s draft class, which was flush with first-round tackle options, this year’s group is far more uncertain. Beyond Missouri’s Armand Membou and LSU’s Will Campbell, many of the offensive linemen taken early could be converted into guards. The two reasonable options for the Chiefs, who pick at No. 31, are Oregon’s Josh Conerly Jr. and Josh Simmons of Ohio State. Neither has ideal measurables for a team long fixated on arm length.
If Veach prefers to go the free-agency route, two names stand out in Cam Robinson and Ronnie Stanley. Robinson is 29 years old and has 101 starts to his name with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings. However, he’s also an average starter who is about to cross the age-30 threshold.
As for Stanley, he’s a phenomenal player when healthy … but that’s the problem. The 31-year-old played all 17 games last year but prior to that was sidelined for 36 games over the previous four seasons due to a variety of injuries. If the market price is somewhere approaching $25 million annually for Stanley, that’s an enormous risk.
There are other questions for the Chiefs to consider, including whether Marquise Brown returns as a third receiver beyond Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy, and how many members of the aforementioned defensive quartet hitting free agency will return.
But none of it matters if the offensive line isn’t fixed. And while Suamataia, albeit with many questions of his own, is the obvious answer at guard opposite Smith, there’s no clear choice to his left.
The Chiefs have time to figure it out. But if they come up with the wrong answer, their dynasty will be delayed at best instead of morphing into its next phase.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chiefs’ Ability to Bolster Offensive Line Is Vital to Extending Dynasty.
