Going into free agency a few weeks ago, Joe Thuney was one of the best, if not the best, interior linemen available.
And his agent, Mike McCartney, knew it.
“I went into this week knowing I had the top interior offensive lineman that was top of the market,” he said in an interview with FanSided's Matt Verderame. “… With Joe not having missed a snap in five years, very clean, very consistent, reliable and versatile, where he could play anywhere in the line, I knew I’d have a strong market. I was also very anxious about the salary cap. Normally, I’m very patient and confident. I will admit, those couple hours I was extremely anxious this year. I just felt that teams were only going to go so far and that if I tried to stretch them too much, I could easily lose them.”
It was expected Thuney would generate a lot of interest, but one of the teams surprised McCartney -- the Patriots. The story says their interest was "recent but significant after being quiet much of the offseason." This came a year after the Patriots placed the franchise tag on Thuney, which "blindsided" the long-time agent.
Besides New England, the Chiefs, Bengals, Jets and Chargers showed interest, but McCartney was all-in on the Chiefs and the fit for Thuney.
“When Kansas City made it clear they were serious, I talked to Joe,” McCartney said. “I said ‘Joe, I think this is a home run for a lot of reasons. It’s a great team, you’ll have a lot of weapons around you and a creative playcaller in Andy Reid who takes care of veterans during the week. You’re a midwestern guy from Dayton, Ohio, and the Chiefs are one of two teams (in the league) that has a college football atmosphere. There’s a lot here.'”
After roughly four hours of talks, a deal was struck -- a reported four-year deal worth up to $80 million.