Completing a journey from UDFA to rookie starter with the Patriots, David Andrews held that distinction until 2024. As the Patriots removed all player ties to their Super Bowl teams this offseason, Andrews will not attempt to bounce back in 2025.
The veteran center intends to retire with the Patriots, according to the team. This will wrap a 10-year run, as Andrews became a rare UDFA to play a decade with one franchise.
When the Pats released Andrews in March, he expressed uncertainty about his playing future. The 32-year-old snapper had provided the bridge up front from Tom Brady to Mac Jones to Drake Maye. Garrett Bradbury is on track to be Maye’s center in 2025, but the former Vikings starter will have a tough act to follow.
Andrews made 121 career starts, beginning his run as New England’s top center in Week 1 of his rookie season. The Georgia product supplanted Bryan Stork in that role and kept it until a blood clot issue kept him out for the entire 2019 campaign. Andrews returned for the 2020 season, beginning the Pats’ post-Brady period, and outlasted the other O-linemen from the Patriots’ Super Bowl years. Although Shaq Mason kept going into the 2020s in New England, the veteran guard has since been traded twice. Andrews managed to stick around for five more seasons, though his 2024 slate ended early due to injury.
A shoulder surgery shut down Andrews, who played just four games last season. The Pats also released him with a failed physical designation, calling into question his readiness for a potential return elsewhere in 2025. Fellow Super Bowl-era Patriot cogs Jonathan Jones and Deatrich Wise (Commanders) and Joe Cardona (Dolphins) have found new homes amid the Pats’ offseason makeover; Andrews will pass on a true effort to do so, wrapping a successful career.
The Patriots used Andrews as a starter in 12 playoff games, and his 121 regular-season starts rank highly among O-linemen in team history. Andrews’ regular-season start count ranks seventh in Pats history for offensive linemen, one game ahead of fellow former Brady center Dan Koppen. Among Pats blockers to participate in the second wave of Super Bowls during the Brady years, Andrews leads the way in terms of attendance.
Pro Football Focus graded Andrews as a top-five center twice (2017, 2021) and slotted him in the top 15 on four other occasions, including in 2023. The Pats gave Andrews three extensions, the most recent a one-year, $6.5MM bump agreed to in May 2024. Andrews’ more notable deals came in 2017 (three years, $9MM) and 2021 (four years, $19MM). For his career, the 300-pound blocker earned more than $34MM.
No Pro Bowl nods came Andrews’ way, but he holds a key distinction to cement a signature underdog story. No UDFA has Andrews’ 121 starts beat in Patriots history, as only one other New England cog (offensive lineman Sam Adams) logged more than 100 starts after going undrafted. Andrews will walk away as a key presence on the Brady- and Rob Gronkowski-led Patriots teams that increased that dynasty’s Super Bowl count to six.
Heck of a career! Enjoy retirement.
Until the Jets lure him back for one more @15MM only to have him hurt in training camp and miss the whole season. He can collect his Jets check and then sign his one day to retire as a Pat lol