Patriots Player Departure Pats trade Garrett Bradbury to the Bears for a 2027 5th

Ross12 · Mar 6, 2026

farn said:
Bears had a 27 year old stud at C last year. He just bailed on them. No ?

Diffs4 said:
They signed a much better center last year to a four year contract that just retired after one year. I am the first to bag on bad front office decisions but this is not one of them.

I did blank on the Dalman retirement, so that is true, it takes that angle out of it. Still, it is smart business from NE - taking advantage of another team's unfortunate circumstances to secure a decent pick for a guy they were likely going to be cutting in training camp anyway. That pick probably ends up being a future punter, safety, core ST player etc. 5ths ain't bad.

Sciz · Mar 6, 2026

Always nice to get trade compensation that’s not insignificant when a 2027 7th would have been my guess.

Hammer of Thor · Mar 6, 2026

Zuma said:
Wilson is a 22 yo rookie who started 13 games for us. Everybody wants fast food McDonald's...give it some time...it will be worth it....gessh

I believe Bradbury was signed to be a stopgap and insurance in case the Pats weren’t able to get the center they wanted in the draft. After they got Wilson, the goal was for him to beat Bradbury out, but a few things happened — there were some fumbled snap issues early on in camp, Bradbury was showing a lot better than expected, and Strange and the other left guards were looking terrible. So they moved Wilson back to guard which was his original position earlier in his college career, and he won the job.

He looked fine the first 3 games, then got hurt and missed a game. Came back and was a bit more inconsistent. Got hurt again and missed the Giants game, and didn’t look good from the 2nd Bills game on. I don’t think he was 100% — he missed the Jets and Dolphins game for a reason — and there’s also the whole rookie wall issue which is especially a concern at non-skill positions. The 16 games he did start were still 4 more games than he ever played in a season at college.

Certainly way too early to give up on him. Sure it’s possible he never improves and this is it, but to your point he has a lot of factors in his favor to allow growth next season. Still would be nice to have competition for him in camp regardless of what position he winds up at, as a way of hedging bets and helping motivate him to make that improvement.

ScottishPatriot · Mar 6, 2026

In other O-line news: Taylor Decker has requested release from the Lions. Could we bring him in? Initial intention could be to use him as the swing, but with the option to move Will inside to G, with Decker at LT.

Real fan 02 · Mar 6, 2026

TheRainMaker said:
They are going after Lindenbaum unless he foolishly re-signs with Baltimore.

Rain.. honestly I'd rather invest that $$$ in Pierce and move Wilson to C instead.. I like Wilson to become one of the best C in the league next season under the coaching and year under his belt..

Borg140 · Mar 6, 2026

ScottishPatriots said:
Nah i think Wilson is gonna move to C and they're gonna get a better LG to help Campbell.

Seems obvious.

Joey007 · Mar 6, 2026

Huckleberry1 said:
This could signal a signing like McGovern, who they could start at LG, but would be able to move to center if Wilson faltered. Then they would draft a guard for depth and competition,

Hadn’t thought of this. That could work.

KCSVEN · Mar 6, 2026

ScottishPatriot said:
In other O-line news: Taylor Decker has requested release from the Lions. Could we bring him in? Initial intention could be to use him as the swing, but with the option to move Will inside to G, with Decker at LT.

I thought that too but after watching tape of him last year I wasn’t impressed

Tunescribe · Mar 6, 2026

A.C Vegas said:
I am surprised that they got anything for him. Wilson has to be moving to center

Surprised? He was a solid (if unspectacular) performer all season. I was hoping the Pats would hold onto him for depth even if Wilson is moving to center. Chicago got a good player very cheap. At this point it looks like the Patriots are making major changes across the OL.

UGAPatsfan · Mar 6, 2026

Getting a 5th next year for a scrap heap pickup who played better than expected os a huge W.

Urgent · Mar 6, 2026

A fifth next year doesn’t merit a parade and a banner.
But it positions Wilson at center where he belongs. He has the offseason to focus on center.
It opens almost $6M in additional cap space.
It positions the Patriots to get a big veteran guard between Campbell and Wilson.
Good move.

Center is younger and cheaper.
Hopefully LG is better.
That’s Vrabels offseason mantra.

One-If-By-Sea · Mar 6, 2026

TheRainMaker said:
They are going after Lindenbaum unless he foolishly re-signs with Baltimore.

Let's hope so

The Gr8est · Mar 6, 2026

Toofy said:
That's a pretty good return considering we did not spend anything

The Pats now have the Bears’ 4th and 5th round picks.

I’m seeing a pattern.

One-If-By-Sea · Mar 6, 2026

Toofy said:
Based on the quest to get younger and the fact that we released Bradbury and diggs , looks like top 3 draft picks will be across these 3 positions in no particular order - RT,CB , TE . Each one a understudy for Carlton Davis, Moses and Henry .

You have to replace Onwenu.

rabidfireweasel · Mar 6, 2026

Toofy said:
Based on the quest to get younger and the fact that we released Bradbury and diggs , looks like top 3 draft picks will be across these 3 positions in no particular order - RT,CB , TE . Each one an understudy for Carlton Davis, Moses and Henry .

I am not sure I agree. The Patriots, talent wise, aren’t an elite team. I think they will likely draft best player available(with exclusions in K, P, QB) for the most part. They still need to prioritizing good players.

Ross12 · Mar 6, 2026

JoeSixPat said:
Bears fans were gearing up for Tyler Linderbaum

Instead they have Bradbury

Who knows, maybe the Bears got the feeling that Linderbaum wanted to play elsewhere and the Pats got the feeling they didn't need Bradbury anymore!

Insider believes Bears are 'greasing the wheels' for Tyler Linderbaum

The Chicago Bears appear to be preparing to make a splash at center, and it sounds like Tyler Linderbaum is the target.

bearswire.usatoday.com

Yeah… I definitely understand why the most obvious answer would be “Wilson is the new center” but he’s never played starting C before at an NFL level and he’s only in his 2nd year, just handing him the job with no serious competition feels irresponsible and out of character for this org. I feel like if the plan was to start Wilson at center, they would’ve kept Bradbury and had the guys compete for the job, and if Wilson won they’d release Bradbury at that time. Moving Bradbury now before Wilson has proven himself in that role seems off…

IMO they only move Bradbury NOW if they are planning to replace him with an established veteran starter NOW such as Linderbaum. Which means Wilson doesn’t go to center and either becomes a backup or stays at left guard. But that’s just my opinion… I could be wrong.

50-yard-line · Mar 6, 2026

Huckleberry1 said:
I have total faith in Vrabel and Co., they know what they are doing. They wouldn't have moved on from Bradbury unless they knew they could improve the position. They aren't in the business of creating holes they can't fill.

That's why I don't think it's just moving Wilson to center. Tough position in the NFL, and Wilson hasn't played it at this level.

Also, nothing against Wilson - I like his attitude and his game is pretty good - but Linderbaum is one of the best Centers in the league. I would love that pickup.

PATSYLICIOUS · Mar 6, 2026

so far Vrabel is keeping his word to getting younger. Last year by my count we had 4 starters over 30

Diggs- gone
Bradbury-gone
Moses
Henry

Moses will be hard to replace right away unless they hit big on a pick so i think he stays a year more. Henry has chemistry with maye, but so did diggs so its hard to say. His contract is a bit more fair so i think hes back but hooper gets replaced. Itd still be an incredibly young team with only 2 starters over 30.

dliverey44 · Mar 6, 2026

Ross12 said:
This is like highway robbery from Wolf, Cowden and company.

Sign a player for pennies last year off the free agent scrap heap, get a solid year out of him on the way to a Super Bowl berth, and then flip him for a 5th round pick a year later.

Bears fans have to be wondering why their front office didn’t just sign Bradbury a year ago for free.

To be fair they got hit with a surprise retirement from a guy that was far better than Bradbury. I also imagine that Bradbury is going to end up being their backup Center

Wozzy · Mar 6, 2026

Surprised they pulled the trigger on this so soon, hopefully Wilson is up to the task. He needs to smarten up and not telegraph to defenses who he is about to block.

Assuming he’s up to the task and they get a big powerful LG or LT the offensive line should be massive and powerful. It would be awesome if we could snatch up Zion Johnson in free agency to play LG.

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