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

mike_usagisan · Mar 7, 2026

Move Wilson to center. If he struggles, put in Brown. They need a real left guard.

I know some people think you get a great center if you can in free agency, but I think Vrabel is telegraphing that he’s sticking by his rookies when he says, “They must get stronger.”

Pape · Mar 7, 2026

n1997y said:
That might actually be a tolerable roster on opening day.

Morgan moses on the right side bothers me... history dictates he will miss games... would like to address the RT position sooner rather than later ... FA crop looks thin though...

PatsWickedPissah · Mar 7, 2026

TheRainMaker said:
Wilson doesn't even belong on the field.

HEY!!!

PATSYLICIOUS · Mar 7, 2026

mike_usagisan said:
Move Wilson to center. If he struggles, put in Brown. They need a real left guard.

I know some people think you get a great center if you can in free agency, but I think Vrabel is telegraphing that he’s sticking by his rookies when he says, “They must get stronger.”

I could be off but Thats what my gut tells me, i think Vrabel is very high on Wilson and sees him as a starter moving forward. He could have easily benched him for brown in the playoffs when Wilson was struggling but imo stuck with him for the long term plan. I don’t think hed do that for someone he’s viewing as a depth player / one year plug in.

Wozzy · Mar 7, 2026

Pape said:
Morgan moses on the right side bothers me... history dictates he will miss games... would like to address the RT position sooner rather than later ... FA crop looks thin though...

Use the draft, they’ve got one solid prospect in Marcus Bryant already, bring in some more bodies and let camp competition sort it out.

Moses will be good right up until the moment he isn’t or he gets hurt, they just need the heir apparent sitting right behind him.

Wozzy · Mar 7, 2026

mike_usagisan said:
Move Wilson to center. If he struggles, put in Brown. They need a real left guard.

I know some people think you get a great center if you can in free agency, but I think Vrabel is telegraphing that he’s sticking by his rookies when he says, “They must get stronger.”

Rookies must get stronger, Vrabel is not wrong.

I think the people here saying we should throw out Campbell or Wilson with the bathwater are ignoring the overwhelmingly large body of good work and solely focusing on the bad.

College kids typically play 13 games or so, NFL players including the playoffs can be upwards of 20. They need to get stronger and more experienced.

These kids are hyper talented. There is a lot of hyperbolic overreactions going on in Patriot nation.

ScottishPatriot · Mar 7, 2026

imahobgoblin said:
So do you just ignore everything Vrabel says so you can get your own way, which will not happen anyway? I don't really care if you like or hate Campbell. He is the starting LT. Do you get it yet?

Lol, calm it, wee man.

Somebody clearly can’t read…

Bill Lee · Mar 7, 2026

Q: How do you know it's the deep off-season?

A: Trading a backup center for a fifth in next year's draft gets five pages on Pats Fans.

Hugepatsfan · Mar 7, 2026

Bill Lee said:
Q: How do you know it's the deep off-season?

A: Trading a backup center for a fifth in next year's draft gets five pages on Pats Fans.

He’s been a starting center for 7 straight years now, including with us last year. You might want him to be a backup for an upgrade, but he’s a starting level player and it’s actually pretty fairly significant that we’d move him now. It does spur a lot of interesting conversation about how they’ll approach OL in a few days.

Stu Pidassle · Mar 7, 2026

Hugepatsfan said:
He’s been a starting center for 7 straight years now, including with us last year. You might want him to be a backup for an upgrade, but he’s a starting level player and it’s actually pretty fairly significant that we’d move him now. It does spur a lot of interesting conversation about how they’ll approach OL in a few days.

After the way things ended last year, OL is a clear area of need and fan interest. Getting rid of a reliable starter is not the standard practice for improving when there are other more pressing needs. In this case Bradbury was moved because he did not meet the better, younger, cheaper criteria. I wonder how the Bears sudden need influenced the Patriots by generating the opportunity to get a good return for a player who was not part of the long term plan. It could well be that the Pats would have held onto Bradbury for depth if the option was a later round pick. A fifth round pick was too much to ignore.

JoeSixPat · Mar 7, 2026

Ross12 said:
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.

Guessing/hoping/dreaming is really all we have at this juncture.

I've said it before in the LG and OL discussion that Pats history show the benefit of anchoring the line with a pro-bowl caliber Center, and that all the talk of moving Wilson to C didn't exactly give me any more confidence than keeping him at LG (where Ben Brown clearly showed he's better than Wilson)

I'll take Wilson and his contract as a quality backup but I'd be thrilled to see Linderbaum here as I feel like Brown or maybe even someone at #31 can do better than Wilson, who was himself what a 3rd round pick?

My gut just tells me that they want someone better than Wilson at C, and I think given the Bears' need at C, they know Linderbaum isn't interested in them

That, along with my gut is telling me they're going after Alec Pierce, would be big pieces of my dream offseason for Pats

Rob0729 · Mar 7, 2026

I didn't see Bradbury with the team come the final 53 man roster. So a 2027 5th round pick was excellent compensation especially since everyone is saying the 2027 draft may be the best one in years.

Obviously now, the plan is to move Wilson to center and keep Campbell at LT. Maybe an experienced and good LG pick up can make both players that much better.

JoeSixPat · Mar 7, 2026

Hugepatsfan said:
He’s been a starting center for 7 straight years now, including with us last year. You might want him to be a backup for an upgrade, but he’s a starting level player and it’s actually pretty fairly significant that we’d move him now. It does spur a lot of interesting conversation about how they’ll approach OL in a few days.

Well, he's a starter (rated #29 in the league but I'd say he's right in the middle) and never has cracked the top ten in his career, but he fits in their salary cap space after Dalman's retirement

During pending free agency we know that agents are talking to teams and vice versa

The Bills were supposedly VERY interested in Alec Pierce but seemed to get the word that he was more interested in another team so they traded for DJ Moore

The Bears were supposedly VERY interested in Tyler Linderbaum but seemed to get word that wasn't happening either (although I don't think they could afford him)

So my hope is in both cases they know those players are headed for the Patriots!

Ring 6 · Mar 7, 2026

Pape said:
Morgan moses on the right side bothers me... history dictates he will miss games... would like to address the RT position sooner rather than later ... FA crop looks thin though...

That’s what people said last year and he played in every game for the 9th time in 11 years.

Wozzy · Mar 7, 2026

Don’t overthink this, Bradbury had one year left on his deal and likely wants an extension. The Pats had their center of the future already and he is on a cost controlled rookie contract… cheap.

The trade compensation for Bradbury is commensurate with a trade and pay situation. If Bradbury had more years on his deal and didn’t need a new contract, the compensation would have been higher.

It was a good deal for both teams. They needed a starting center, the Pats wanted to get younger and cheaper.

mike_usagisan · Mar 7, 2026

Wozzy said:
Don’t overthink this, Bradbury had one year left on his deal and likely wants an extension. The Pats had their center of the future already and he is on a cost controlled rookie contract… cheap.

The trade compensation for Bradbury is commensurate with a trade and pay situation. If Bradbury had more years on his deal and didn’t need a new contract, the compensation would have been higher.

It was a good deal for both teams. They needed a starting center, the Pats wanted to get younger and cheaper.

And it gives the Bears a starter in case they can't find a center in the draft or they draft a center and he's not ready to go this year. Basically they got Bradbury for the same reasons we did last year.

Real fan 02 · Mar 7, 2026

slash83 said:
If NE didn’t have Wilson in the waiting I’d be all in on Linderbaum. But smart play is moving Wilson to C and going out in free agency and landing a good vet LG to pair between Campbell and Wilson.

Exactly! Agreed... Bradbury was a solid veteran and was always a stop gap.. Wilson is best suited there... opens up the LG spot for Benny brown.. only knock on Bradbury was Tonga is an exact reason why he was used in short yards because we couldn't seem to get them often just running behind Bradbury..

dliverey44 · Mar 7, 2026

JoeSixPat said:
Guessing/hoping/dreaming is really all we have at this juncture.

I've said it before in the LG and OL discussion that Pats history show the benefit of anchoring the line with a pro-bowl caliber Center, and that all the talk of moving Wilson to C didn't exactly give me any more confidence than keeping him at LG (where Ben Brown clearly showed he's better than Wilson)

I'll take Wilson and his contract as a quality backup but I'd be thrilled to see Linderbaum here as I feel like Brown or maybe even someone at #31 can do better than Wilson, who was himself what a 3rd round pick?

My gut just tells me that they want someone better than Wilson at C, and I think given the Bears' need at C, they know Linderbaum isn't interested in them

That, along with my gut is telling me they're going after Alec Pierce, would be big pieces of my dream offseason for Pats

Andrews, Stork, Wendell, Koppen, Woody, Wohlabaugh. Some of them were good but I feel like you are hyperbolic in your memories of our Centers.

I think Koppen was all pro 1 year and I know you said caliber, but I feel that it was quite the stretch. I do not think that level of center is necessary for this offense to succeed

Ross12 · Mar 7, 2026

Rob0729 said:
I didn't see Bradbury with the team come the final 53 man roster. So a 2027 5th round pick was excellent compensation especially since everyone is saying the 2027 draft may be the best one in years.

Obviously now, the plan is to move Wilson to center and keep Campbell at LT. Maybe an experienced and good LG pick up can make both players that much better.

On the other side of that coin, if they sign Linderbaum who is as good as they come, and if they believe in Campbell at LT as much as they say they do, then those two guys flanking Wilson at LG could make Wilson into a good guard.

TheRainMaker · Mar 7, 2026

dliverey44 said:
Andrews, Stork, Wendell, Koppen, Woody, Wohlabaugh. Some of them were good but I feel like you are hyperbolic in your memories of our Centers.

I think Koppen was all pro 1 year and I know you said caliber, but I feel that it was quite the stretch. I do not think that level of center is necessary for this offense to succeed

They really haven't had a center of Wohlabaugh's caliber since he left. He never made a Prop Bowl or All Pro, but he scored the richest contract at that position in NFL history when he left for the Browns in 1999. While it was an overpay, he was a regarded within the top 3-5 at the position.

Stork had potential to be a really good C who brought some much needed edge, but concussions ruined his career. Andrews would've been playing elsewhere had Stork been healthy. Koppen was a lunch pail guy. Woody wasn't very good at all who couldn't even snap a football out of the shotgun. Koppen took his job in 2003. Wendell shouldn't even be on the list.

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