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.
It’s a decent trade that gives the Bears a guy who could start if necessary Or he can even be a B/U if they A) Sign a guy like McGovern or even draft a guy which is now entirely possible since we are keeping our draft picks. Playing between Thuney and Jackson is not all that tough. The Bears also can have decent B/U guards in Newman who I like and McFadden who I also liked if they re sign him. Maybe they even have enough to sign a Decker for to play LT, Just throwing it out there. They can still clear more room by renegotiating some more money, They can get more. Most of the guaranteed money they threw around is coming off the books next year so next year they should be fine when it comes time to pay Caleb. Get the Comp picks. Trade down the first. When it comes to draft picks in rounds 2-4 more is better. Take more bites at the apple. Draft LB’s, S’s, DT’s and a C. They mostly play 4-2-5 on defense nowadays anyway. They have guys already that maybe can play S if they move people around. They have Edwards, Hopefully Jackson comes back and Hyppolyte at LB. costs nothing to bring back Sewell. So draft another good one, You have the picks. Get enough money and sign one. There are a lot of things they can do. Should be interesting to see what they do.
No. It’s not a decent trade. Bradbury blows.
You shipping off a washed Moore for a 2? That was a coup for you. The Bills are morons.
Lol the salty Packer fan pretending DJ Moore is washes because he absolutely torched the Packers twice last year hahahaha.
Always remember: Caleb Williams had the same number of receiving TDs as Matthew Golden in 2025.
Maybe washed is too strong. He’s not the player he was two-four years ago. Regardless, a second is way to high for him.
But Bradbury is truly awful. I’ll take the trade for a division rival.
He gave up zero sacks on a Super Bowl team. Yeah he was brutal all right. Send us some more brutal guys like that.
From Bears Wire.
The Chicago Bears aren’t wasting time when it comes to finding a new center on the offensive line. The Bears are acquiring center Garrett Bradbury from the New England Patriots in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round pick.
The trade was first reported by NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport. The deal cannot be finalized until the start of the new league year on Wednesday. The move comes just days after the sudden news that Bears center Drew Dalman was retiring from the NFL.
Bradbury is very familiar with the Bears from his days with the Minnesota Vikings. He was selected by the Vikings in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft and anchored their offensive line through the 2024 season. Minnesota released Bradbury last offseason, and he signed a two-year deal to join the New England Patriots. Bradbury was an integral part of their Super Bowl run, starting all 17 games for the Patriots in the regular season and four postseason games. In the regular season, Bradbury allowed no sacks, four hits, and 20 pressures.
Footnote. It also says Bradbury was College team mates with Joe Thuney at North Carolina St so they already know each other. I keep finding more and more reasons to like this deal. The only bad things I’ve heard about all the College C’s is most of them are described as Under Sized. Not a great thing when moving up a level but they will still take one I bet.
He was legitimately terrible for the Vikings for years. Hes not good dude.
@unclemike. I think it was mostly the tackles that will move inside or be considered reaches for the first round. There’s some decent guards and centers in the 2nd or third.
Rex- No I was talking about the guys who are just C’s. They had an article in Bears Wire where they listed 5 C’s the Bears might draft, 3 of the 5 were listed as “Undersized” and after watching the Bears do that for years and watching them get run over I’ve seen enough. Anyway the Bears are deep at G already and with Bradbury and they also have Ricky Stromberg who I liked in College it’s not a huge need anymore. The big need is going to be to find a LT for this year or maybe a couple until Trapilo comes back. I’m waiting for the New League Year figures to come out and see exactly how much Cap Space the Bears end up with before we see what they can do. With a 1st, 2 2nds and hopefully 2 3rds with the one comp pick they should get they’ll be OK with the positions they need. It’s just the Packer fan who shouts nonsense when he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It’s the defense that gets most of the grease this year.
@uncle. Yeah I just saying the tackle class is underwhelming. I guess we will find out. It’s probably crappy in general just not as bad if you waste a second or third getting a guard or center. I’ve been following it because the chargers need interior lineman. At the end day just hope you have a gm that knows what they’re doing. Yeah it was someone just talking crap. At the end of day Bradbury was the best available not name linderbaum. It’s possible someone gets released, but its better to make a move instead of sitting on your hands waiting for something better. Lots of teams need OL someone is going to leave the table emptied handed or get screwed over reaching.
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.
Bridge starter. My guess is they draft a center, possibly on Day 2, and have him understudy Bradbury in 2026 and take over in 2027, maybe even this year.
@lago407. Im sure they will be drafting a center. Linderbaum is probably already signed. I know its not official, but it’s weird when everyone signs a minute after free agency starts. He was the best available, maybe someone gets released but you have to do something without getting caught with you pants down.
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.
He was New England’s one-year bridge starter for 2025 3rd rounder Jared Wilson and will probably be a bridge starter for the Bears after they draft a center, probably on Day 2, in April. Then he’ll be a free agent and either continue being a journeyman bridge starter for a year or two of years, become a back-up, or retire.
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.
Did Ryan Poles or anyone in the Bears front office happen to watch ANY of the Patriots Post Season Games? That O Line was so bad. What in the world did they see in this guy to warrant a 5th for him??
I’m going to assume that Ben Johnson was on board for this trade. The plan is probably for him to be a one-year bridge starter between a solid pair of guards while some draft pick – Day 2, I’d guess – is coached up to take over in 2027.
I’d be questioning only a 5th for a full season starter at Center…so much of the Pats post season O-Line problems looked to be the LT and LG more so than at Center but that certainly can be debated….a 5th round draft choice is typically cannon fodder for the punt team….although sometimes you get lucky and find a gem.
This guy sucks. Kenny Clark owed his for half a decade.
Bears getting worse. Wooooo
The Bears basically skipped the draft in 2019 when Bradbury was a first rounder. Three of their five picks came after pick 200. David Montgomery (3rd round) was the only guy of any value.
Bradbury is best in a wide zone running scheme which the Bears love and he was road game roommates with Thuney. Cohesiveness on the OL is essential. Nice move!
0 penalties, 0 sacks allowed. Someone explain to me why he’s ranked 30th among Centers by PFF.
Decent stopgap at a low cost. The Bears should be looking at Logan Jones from Iowa to run that zone running scheme. Very agile mover, decent power, great leader.