Bear Digest

Garrett Bradbury Is Joe Thuney's Guy But Can New Bears Center Block?

It's probably better to be cautious rather than giddy over the latest Chicago Bears offensive line move made by GM Ryan Poles.
Gene Chamberlain|
Garrett Bradbury hasn't been the best pass blocker but he was Joe Thuney's college roommate and that's got to count for something.
Garrett Bradbury hasn't been the best pass blocker but he was Joe Thuney's college roommate and that's got to count for something. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

At first glance, the Bears came away with another huge win with their trade for center Garrett Bradbury.

How could you go wrong with Joe Thuney's college roommate for North Carolina State road games coming on board to replace retired center Drew Dalman? It'll be like old times in the middle of the line.

The price is right in more ways than one, too.

It's more than right. At a $5.7 million cap hit for 2026, they not only are well below what they saved on Drew Dalman but have money saved to devote to finding a left tackle or defensive help.

The price is right

They avoided the big $20 million payday to Baltimore's Tyler Linderbaum.

Not only that, but giving up a fifth-round pick for a starting center? They did do the same thing two years ago when they traded for Ryan Bates and that hasn't exactly worked out. Still, Bradbury is a center and Bates was both a guard and center and had injury issues. Bradbury has been relatively injury free throughout his career.

He's coming to the Bears from a Super Bowl team. This looks like a better option in all ways.

Don't get carried away with celebrating yet another victory for GM Ryan Poles, though.

At best, this is a low-budget, risky move and here's why.

He might not cost the team much in draft capital or cap space. He might be from a winning team and is even a friend and former teammate of the NFL Protector of the Year, but he still has to be able to play football.

Uh, wait a minute

Bradbury has been anything but a good pass blocker according to Pro Football Focus analytics.

Last year was one of his best seasons, but he was blocking for one of the most mobile passers in Drake Maye. Although he didn't give up a sack or commit a penalty, he was graded by PFF only 23rd as a pass blocker, and has never been better than 18th among centers as a pass blocker.

In fact, from the time he broke in and throughout his six years as a Vikings lineman, he was among the worst pass-blocking centers in the NFL. He was graded dead last among centers as a pass blocker in his first two years and two above last in his third year. He has allowed 20 sacks and committed 35 penalties in seven seasons, including holding 17 times, per NFLGSIS.com.

At least most of the holds came very early in his career as a younger, inexperienced blocker during his first two seasons. He had six holds in each of those seasons.

PFF analytics are not ironclad by any means, but the penalties for holding are tangible and troubling, and his inability to be higher than 23rd overall in center rankings in every season except one doesn't say he's just been misunderstood. At best, he hasn't been elite.

It's a case where Poles got burned by Dalman's retirement and did what he could with the cap situation being what it is.

Ben Johnson's input has meant a lot with offensive acquisitions over the last two years. The best thing that can be hoped for here is he guided them to a gem who was simply in the wrong situation at Minnesota and is hitting stride.

The idea here has to be to draft a center and have Bradbury there as the place holder, like New England did last year with Jared Wilson. It's Wilson now who will inherit Bradbury's spot. If it's not to draft someone, then it's to buy time while Luke Newman learns to be a center.

Maybe he can produce another sack-free and penalty-free season like in 2025 when he played in the Super Bowl, but the numbers all suggest otherwise.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.