Garrett Bradbury is heading back to the NFC North. Days after Drew Dalman‘s retirement, the Bears have a deal in place to acquire Bradbury from the Patriots, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports.
Chicago is sending a 2027 fifth-round pick (per ESPN’s Adam Schefter) to New England for Bradbury, who logged six seasons as the Vikings’ starting center before being cut in 2025. The former first-round pick started every game for the Patriots last season, doing so after logging 88 starts with the Vikings from 2019-24.
The 2025 offseason dispersed Dalman and Bradbury elsewhere. A four-year Falcon, Dalman signed a three-year, $42MM Bears deal. Not too long after his Vikings release, Bradbury landed in Foxborough via a two-year, $9.5MM pact. The Bears will pick up Bradbury’s $3.7MM 2026 base salary.
This trade comes after Tyler Biadasz, who visited the Bears in the wake of the Dalman retirement news, agreed to a three-year Chargers deal worth $30MM. Chicago will save quite a bit at center compared to Dalman or Biadasz, though Bradbury will likely be a downgrade from Dalman’s 2025 work.
Pro Football Focus graded Bradbury as the NFL’s No. 29 overall center last season. The Patriots voyaged to Super Bowl LX, but their O-line featured shaky stretches beyond merely Will Campbell‘s late-season struggles. Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson are certainly familiar with Bradbury from previous NFC North clashes, but it is worth wondering if the Bears will add a center option in the draft as well. Bradbury will turn 31 in June.
The Vikings gave Bradbury a three-year, $15.75MM deal in 2023; that came after then-GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah did not pick up the Rick Spielman draftee’s fifth-year option. PFF has never graded Bradbury as a top-10 center, but the advanced metrics site did place him 11th in 2022. Rankings outside the top 20 have followed in the years since.
The Bears, who officially placed Dalman on the reserve/retired list today, look to be passing on a free agent market that also includes Connor McGovern, Cade Mays, Lloyd Cushenberry and Ethan Pocic. Tyler Linderbaum is PFR’s No. 1-ranked free agent, but with Biadasz potentially being too pricey for the Bears (if that is indeed the case), the four-year Ravens starter’s explosive market certainly would be.
Chicago looks set to plug Bradbury into an O-line returning starters Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson and Darnell Wright — while LT Ozzy Trapilo will spend part of the season rehabbing a patellar tendon tear — while New England will need a new center. Ben Levine’s Patriots Offseason Outlook mentioned Bradbury as a potential cut candidate. It is worth wondering if the Patriots will be in the market for a free agent upgrade soon. The Bradbury trade will also mark a reunion for Thuney and Bradbury, who played together at NC State.
Would’ve rather kept our 5th and signed Biadasz
sbmcintosh36@gmail.com They made the deal after Biadaz signed with Chargers
Correct b/c they weren’t interested in going 3x$30M, but my point remains.
That’s certainly a downgrade from Dalman, but at least it’s cheap and keeps them in the running for Crosby or Hendrickson.
Really hope this is just the Bears having a contingency / backup plan in place because Linderbaum or McGovern this guy is not. Sure it’s not the end all be all but PFF had him ranked as the 30th best center out of 40 last season.
“Pop” I hated to do it but I popped your bubble. They are most like moving forward with Bradbury. He is not going to be a backup and I do not see him playing any other spot.
Biadasz didn’t visit the Bears. Mike Florio had a piece on that today. So did Dan Weiderer. Teams are required to report visits to the NFL. There is no report he visited and Chicago sources say it didn’t happen. Biadasz Was cut by Washington because he doesn’t fit the type of zone running scheme the Commanders want to run, which is similar to what the Bears run. He didn’t fit their scheme.
center is Jared Wilson’s oppoutunity.
Addition by subtraction, he was a weak link all year
PFF grades werent great but he was a stabilizing player in the middle of the line. Much better than those grades suggest. The Pateiots problem was two young, weak guys next to another finesse player.
Its a solid add for the Bears.
Smart move by Poles. A veteran stop gap for a very limited cap hit, minimal draft capital. C is deep in this draft, I have no doubt he’ll draft the long term C.
Now they can shift to FA, they still have plenty to spend.
Wilson to center makes sense for the Patriots. Bradbury to center for the Bears is… suboptimal.
What on earth are the Bears doing. Maintaining a strong OLine is crucial if they’re serious about a SB run next year. I hope they’re not cheaping out at C and LT just to mortgage away their future on Crosby. Typical Bears.
Noice! Thought we were gonna cut him anyway…I’ll take the 5th!
I LOVE this for the Pats! They basically paid 4M for an ok C for a year AND a 5th rounder. Amazing! And now they can move Wilson back to C where he likely belongs. I wonder which LG they’re planning to sign/draft.
Tuesday should be interesting in Foxboro.
Looking forward to it! I also just realized this is a 2027 fifth rounder. Not quite as excited, but still happy with the deal.