A bustling week preceding free agency persists for the Chicago Bears.
This past Friday, the Bears reached an initial agreement to dispatch a 2027 fifth-round selection to the New England Patriots in return for center Garrett Bradbury, an insider informed ESPN. The transaction will not be finalized until the fresh league season commences on Wednesday.
Just three days following Drew Dalman’s unexpected departure from play, the Bears secured their newest center and did not need to overspend to address that gap.
Bradbury, a 2019 initial-round selection, passed the initial six seasons of his professional tenure with the Minnesota Vikings prior to inking a two-year agreement valued at as much as $12 million with New England in March 2025. Chicago is set to pay Bradbury $4.7 million for the concluding year of his agreement.
Bradbury commenced every one of the 17 regular-season contests, along with all four postseason matches, during his solitary campaign with New England. His experienced demeanor contributed to steadying the offensive line, which featured first-year players such as left tackle Will Campbell and left guard Jared Wilson.
With 105 professional starts, he offers steadfastness to Chicago’s offensive front that forfeited 40 percent of its initial players this non-playing period due to Dalman’s departure from the game and left tackle Ozzy Trapilo, who is anticipated to be absent for the majority of the 2026 non-playing period while recuperating from a knee ailment.
Dalman was formally assigned to the reserve/retired roster this Friday; meanwhile, the Bears formally ended the agreement with linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, who had been let go on Thursday. In addition to wide receiver DJ Moore’s exchange to the Buffalo Bills, Chicago generated an extra $44 million in salary cap room since Tuesday.
Bradbury’s peak performance seasons in the league occurred in his initial years in Minnesota within the Vikings’ zone-blocking offensive system, which prominently utilized a significant amount of play-action and deceptive maneuvers. With Bears coach Ben Johnson at the helm, Chicago operated from under center 49% of instances in 2025 (the fifth-highest frequency) and executed play-action on 32% of their pass attempts. Chicago showcased the sixth-greatest explosive play percentage (15.0%) across the NFL, achieving 112 dynamic passing plays.
Regarding New England, Wilson, selected in the third round in 2025, is anticipated to take Bradbury’s place. Wilson performed as a center at the University of Georgia, yet transitioned to left guard as a component of the squad’s strategy to deploy its top five offensive linemen irrespective of their designated role.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss provided input for this article.