The Patriots came out of Super Bowl LX with a few offseason objectives to address, none potentially more important than improving the offensive line.
They were fortunate to have two rookies who played fairly well for most of the season and were set to return in 2026, so they would inevitably be better with experience under their belts. Even better was knowing Mike Onwenu and Morgan Moses, seasoned veterans, would still hold down the right side of the offensive line, so Drake Maye never had to worry about them.
That left them with a few changes to make, one of which was moving Jared Wilson from left guard to center, the position he played in college, and bringing in Alijah Vera-Tucker to replace him on the left side. But that also meant moving on from Garrett Bradbury after just one season, even though he had arguably the best season of his career in 2025.
Because of that, the Bears inquired about a trade, and the Patriots sent him to Chicago for a 2027 fifth-round pick. At the time, it felt like a risky move, given Wilson hadn't played center in the NFL. But after two weeks of the current season, it's clear they made the right decision, but the Bears did not.
The Bears cannot be happy about their trade with the Patriots for Garrett Bradbury
Bears fans were excited to add Bradbury to the offense to protect their young quarterback, Caleb Williams. But they have run into a serious problem in just two weeks, as the veteran lineman has become more of a liability than a help, especially this past week against the Vikings.
That was clear in the first half on Sunday when Bradbury was flagged five times for false starts and holding, which put the offense in worse situations as they tried to take the lead going into halftime.
Instead, they trailed 6-3 going into the third quarter, and surely Bradbury's penalties were a major contributor to the offense's downfall, prompting fans to demand that the 31-year-old be benched as soon as possible, especially since they have backups that they believe will be better.
It's the kind of performance the Vikings warned the Patriots about, since they moved on from him after six years, despite using a first-round pick in 2019 to improve their offensive line. But New England didn't see that version of Bradbury much, if at all, during his one-year stint, and he's now showing exactly what Minnesota experienced with the Bears.
That's a problem the Patriots are fortunate not to be facing with their new center, Jared Wilson, and they're lucky Bradbury wasn't a consistent problem during their Super Bowl run last year.
It suggests that Eliot Wolf deserves a bit more credit for a trade initially deemed questionable but that has proven to be the right move well ahead of time, which is very reminiscent of Bill Belichick.
Because of that, a fifth-round pick for a player who appears headed for the bench, if not outright cut, looks like an absolute steal, and that deserves some applause.
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