The Bears needed a center, and now they have one.
The Patriots and Bears have agreed to a trade that will send center Garrett Bradbury to Chicago, with the Bears sending a 2027 fifth-round pick to New England.
Bradbury started all 17 regular-season games and all four postseason games for the Patriots last season, but the Patriots apparently decided he wasn’t worth his salary cap hit this year. The Patriots will save almost $6 million in cap space by trading Bradbury.
Center went from a position of strength to a position of need for the Bears when Drew Dalman surprisingly retired this week. The Bears acted fast to replace him.
Jared Wilson, a 2025 third-round pick who started 13 games at guard for the Patriots as a rookie last season, would seem likely to become the Patriots’ starting center in 2026. Wilson played center in college at Georgia.
The trade cannot become official until the start of the league year on Wednesday.
