Will Pats cut Bradbury? [OG title mentioned a non-existent option bonus]

[mgteich]

We could go another year with Bradbury at $5.7M if we can't get a better mentor for Wilson.

Or perhaps Wilson is staying at LG.
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It does seem best to sign a better veteran center than Bradbury. Bradbury was OK for 2025. There is little reason to believe that he will get better.

My gut feeling is that we won't be signing a center, but the possibility is certainly there.

We have Campbell, Onwenu and Moses.

Our #1 focus needs to be at LG and C. We now have a below average veteran (Bradbury) and a couple of backups (Brown and Wilson).

 

[Joey007]

I don’t hate it if they think Wilson is ready.

 

[TommyD4207]

I don’t hate it if they think Wilson is ready.

He doesn't look ready to me.

 

[imahobgoblin]

Garrett Bradbury was 30th-best center out of 40 qualifying players with a 59.8 overall grade. He struggled with consistency, producing a 63.1 pass-blocking grade and a 55.7 run-blocking grade. If you can upgrade him, you at the opportunity. Tyler Linderbaum is a free agent, and is top 10. But he will cost about $18 million a year. Do you want to spend that?

 

[hornetfb85]

He doesn't look ready to me.

He didn’t look ready at LG, he’s got a full offseason to look ready at C. However, I do not see the need to cut Bradbury, unless Linderbaum is the plan.

 

[ViperGTS]

He doesn't look ready to me.

As a guard. His natural position was center. In the SEC.

 

[Ring 6]

We could go another year with Bradbury at $5.7M if we can't get a better mentor for Wilson.

Or perhaps Wilson is staying at LG.
============
It does seem best to sign a better veteran center than Bradbury. Bradbury was OK for 2025. There is little reason to believe that he will get better.

My gut feeling is that we won't be signing a center, but the possibility is certainly there.

We have Campbell, Onwenu and Moses.

Our #1 focus needs to be at LG and C. We now have a below average veteran (Bradbury) and a couple of backups (Brown and Wilson).

Where are you finding a better C?

 

[Joey007]

He doesn't look ready to me.

Well, not at guard.

 

[UGAPatsfan]

He doesn't look ready to me.

Center is very different than G. Wilson was damned good at Center for UGA.

 

[Ross12]

We could go another year with Bradbury at $5.7M if we can't get a better mentor for Wilson.

Or perhaps Wilson is staying at LG.
============
It does seem best to sign a better veteran center than Bradbury. Bradbury was OK for 2025. There is little reason to believe that he will get better.

My gut feeling is that we won't be signing a center, but the possibility is certainly there.

We have Campbell, Onwenu and Moses.

Our #1 focus needs to be at LG and C. We now have a below average veteran (Bradbury) and a couple of backups (Brown and Wilson).

On one hand, that money would be better served on a new high profile free agent center. On the other hand, they probably want Wilson taking that role over in the near future, so signing a free agent there seems unwise.

Seems like the “smart” choice is to keep Bradbury for a year at the cost of $5M and let him compete with Wilson. Assume Bradbury is the starter for now but that eventually Wilson overtakes him.

Of course you could also do the same with just Wilson and Brown and have the better of those two start, save the few million, and use that toward a free agent guard instead.

At the end of the day, they’re not exactly hurting for cap anyway.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

What do you mean by "option"? He doesn't have a roster bonus or anything due that I can find. There's no trigger date for guarantees or anything.

As of right now, there's no reason not to take Bradbury to camp. It seems like a decent bet that they look to upgrade at LG because Wilson didn't look ready there and the long term projection for him there doesn't seem great. But they wouldn't just hand him the starting job there either. It's not like Wilson played well enough where he's obviously a starting caliber player at this level even with a position switch. Bradbury's cap hit isn't prohibitive and none of it would be guaranteed if Wilson beat him out in camp and they were comfortable with heir depth. They can just cut him then.

if they went out and signed someone like Linderbaum or McGovern for Center then that's different. At that point you just cut him because $5.7M is kind of expensive for a backup to a big FA signing when you have Wilson/Brown. And you kind of want to do right by the vet and let him go sign for a starter spot elsewhere.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Cut him and apply the money towards an upgrade. Wilson needs to sit a year to get stronger and focus on being a C. I'd prefer they go after Lindenbaum as the Pats haven't had a strong presence at C since Dave Wohlabaugh. His replacements have been adequate at best.

Pats need to focus on building the OL around Henderson who was nerfed. Despite that, he still almost broke 1,000 yards and 10 rushing TD's while not being a starter for the entire season.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

What do you mean by "option"? He doesn't have a roster bonus or anything due that I can find. There's no trigger date for guarantees or anything.

Yeah, I don't see anything like that either (just per game bonuses + incentives), so they should not cut/trade him before training camp until/unless they're certain they have a better plan.

 

[DaBruinz]

We could go another year with Bradbury at $5.7M if we can't get a better mentor for Wilson.

Or perhaps Wilson is staying at LG.
============
It does seem best to sign a better veteran center than Bradbury. Bradbury was OK for 2025. There is little reason to believe that he will get better.

My gut feeling is that we won't be signing a center, but the possibility is certainly there.

We have Campbell, Onwenu and Moses.

Our #1 focus needs to be at LG and C. We now have a below average veteran (Bradbury) and a couple of backups (Brown and Wilson).

Where are you seeing that Bradbury has an option bonus?

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

I don’t hate it if they think Wilson is ready.

Wilson does not look ready and PatsFans loves him for some reason. Having a rookie LG and LT was a huge coaching mistake. Moving Wilson to Center would continue the mistake. Let's hope Vrabel and crew have learned.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Do you want to spend that?

We already spent $17M in 2025 on Onwenu who is not nearly the player that Linderbaum is. Cut Onwenu and sign Linderbaum and the cap hit is barely nothing. Sign a LG in FA and draft a RG in R1 of the draft. The IOL is fixed and Campbell will be MUCH better with a veteran next to him. This is not rocket science.

 

[TommyD4207]

Center is very different than G. Wilson was damned good at Center for UGA.

Hope you're right.

 

[ViperGTS]

Wilson does not look ready and PatsFans loves him for some reason. Having a rookie LG and LT was a huge coaching mistake. Moving Wilson to Center would continue the mistake. Let's hope Vrabel and crew have learned.

I don't agree. He is a center. He has been playing out of position. Thus, I would like to see FA happen after the draft.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Center is very different than G. Wilson was damned good at Center for UGA.

Who cares how Wilson was at UGA? No insult, but who really cares. You seem like a great poster, but college performance is nothing compared to the NFL.

Wilson was lousy at LG. PatsFans thinks Wilson will magically change at Center next year. I will believe it when I see it. I think it is better to have Wilson as a backup in 2026 so he can emerge in 2027. In 2025 Wilson showed he is not ready for the NFL, and needs training.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

I don't agree. He is a center. He has been playing out of position. Thus, I would like to see FA happen after the draft.

How do you know Wilson is a NFL center? Do you want to bet the 2026 season on that?