KC Chiefs: Joe Thuney contract considered one of the worst so far

The KC Chiefs signed Joe Thuney to a five-year deal worth $80 million and he gives them their left guard of the future. Not everyone is loving the contract, however.

Joe Thuney entered free agency as the best interior offensive lineman available on the market and the Kansas City Chiefs went out and got him. They gave the former Patriot a hefty deal but in doing so, shored up an area that’s been of great concern since nearly the entire time Andy Reid has been with the organization.

Chiefs fans are mostly happy with the signing of Thuney and while the team gave him a huge chunk of change to be this team’s left guard, the offensive line needed major bolstering.

Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com, however, doesn’t love the contract for the Chiefs. In fact, Rosenthal listed Thuney’s deal as one of the worst in free agency.

"Part of my reasoning for listing Thuney here is that the Chiefs have done a laudable job coaching up and finding bargains at the position in the last five years. They paid for tackles, had big misses and some hits at guard and rode that to one of the best offenses in the league. When the tackles were injured this year, it all fell apart. But while the Chiefs’ general approach to pay on the edges made sense, Thuney’s signing this offseason only seemed to prevent the Chiefs from going the extra mile in their pursuit of Williams, who ended up sticking in San Francisco."

Rosenthal’s main argument is that when the Chiefs agreed to pay Thuney this kind of money, they essentially removed themselves from the Trent Williams sweepstakes. As we know, Williams signed a massive six-year $138 million contract with the 49ers, but the Chiefs were in it until the very end. Maybe had they not brought Thuney in, they could have afforded Williams’ services.

Rosenthal mentioned he didn’t have an issue with Thuney as a player, but rather the money that the Chiefs were giving him. He noted that paying a guard this kind of money could backfire on the Chiefs but isn’t that the case with any player at any position?

Joe Thuney wasn’t cheap to sign, but he’ll be a vast improvement on the KC Chiefs’ offensive line.

The offensive line became priority No. 1 this offseason after how poorly the unit performed in the Super Bowl. While the team has gotten some flack for releasing both of their starting tackles, there was a reason those moves were made (injuries, mostly, but also to save money and help get this team under the salary cap).

Thuney might not be a tackle, but the left guard position has been a revolving door in Kansas City and Brett Veach made sure that wouldn’t be the case for the next five years. Yes, fans would have loved for the team to have acquired a left tackle but free agency is far from over, plus there’s still the draft to address that need.

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With the Joe Thuney signing, the Chiefs ensured they’d have a strong left guard for the next five years. Thuney is also just 28 years old and is in the prime of his career, so there’s no reason this should be looked at as one of the worst contracts given out in free agency.

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