What signing Garrett Bradbury in free agency means for the Patriots

An six-year starter in Minnesota, Bradbury is adding plenty of experience to the Patriots’ center mix.

The New England Patriots were not the only team turning the page at the center position recently. Shortly after they released David Andrews to end his 10-year, 131-start career with the club, the Minnesota Vikings parted ways with Garrett Bradbury, himself a six-year starter of a combined 92 regular season and playoff contests.

Fast forward to Tuesday, and Bradbury joining the Patriots on a reported two-year deal — one that seemingly puts him in serious contention for the job formerly held by Andrews. With that said, let’s analyze what the signing means for New England.

Plenty of experience

Time will tell whether or not Bradbury will take over David Andrews’ former role as starting center, but adding him to the equation gives the Patriots as seasoned a player at the position as was available in free agency. A 2019 first-round draft pick by the Vikings, he has played more than 6,000 snaps at the position over the course of those 92 career starts.

In turn, New England might be looking at fielding quite the experienced group on the right side of its line: if the 29-year-old joins right guard Michael Onwenu and right tackle Morgan Moses in the starting lineup, the three would have 328 total career starts between them.

Obviously, though, that number would does not mean guaranteed success. However, it is clear that the Patriots are putting a premium on acquiring established talent and veteran leaders under first-year head coach Mike Vrabel.

The offensive line is no exception, with previous signings Moses and Wes Schweitzer both longstanding veterans in the league and potential candidates for leadership roles within the room. All of that is true for Bradbury as well.

Logjam in the middle

The Patriots’ interior offensive line was a revolving door last season, and there is no telling what it will actually look like at the start of the 2025 season. However, Bradbury adds a serious contender for the starting center spot and somebody who should be able to raise the floor at the position.

Looking at New England’s current interior group as per our up-to-date roster only strengthens this perspective:

Interior offensive line (9): Michael Onwenu (71 | RG), Garrett Bradbury (–), Cole Strange (69), Layden Robinson (63), Ben Brown (77), Wes Schweitzer (–), Jake Andrews (67) Lecitus Smith (68), Tyrese Robinson (65)

Restricted free agents (1): Lester Cotton

As can be seen, only one starter is locked into his position: Michael Onwenu will hold down the fort at right guard, teaming up with right tackle signing Morgan Moses to bring some serious beef and experience to the right side of the line. The other three spots in the lineup are all TBD at the moment, including center.

Based on experience, Bradbury can be considered the frontrunner. The other realistic contenders for the starting center spot — Cole Strange, Ben Brown, Jake Andrews — have started a combined 12 games at the position, and look like projections at this point in the process.

It goes without saying that that does not per se disqualify them for competing for the No. 1 job. However, the battle has just gotten a whole lot more competitive.

Questions remain

Bradbury may or may not have the inside track to become the Patriots’ starting center, but it is clear he no longer was considered the top option in Minnesota. The Vikings actively tried replacing him, and did so when they signed free agent Ryan Kelly — who is two years Bradbury’s senior — to a two-year, $18 million deal.

So, what went wrong? According to Christopher Gates of Daily Norseman, it all came down to performance relative to associated cost:

We’ve seen a lot of the same things from Bradbury throughout the course of his career. He’s always been a pretty solid performer in the run game, but struggled quite a bit in pass protection. He played well enough to get into a second contract with the Vikings, but now the team has decided to move in another direction.

Bradbury’s struggles as a pass blocker resulted in some underwhelming numbers. According to Pro Football Focus, no other center in the NFL surrendered more than his 37 regular season pressures in 2024. For comparison, the next center on the list, Green Bay’s Josh Myers, gave up just 29 combined sacks, hits and hurries.

From a statistical perspective, Bradbury was bad last season. His play as a whole, however, needs to be seen in a wider context, and doing so shows that the topic is not as black and white as oftentimes presented.

It is clear that Bradbury is not a superstar by any means, and at 6-foot-3, 300 pounds is one of the smaller centers in the league. Nonetheless, he also managed to produce plenty of promising tape in 2024, including the wild card loss to the Los Angeles Rams above, while playing between a set of guards also facing its fair share of criticism (starting right guard Ed Ingram, for example, was benched halfway through the season).

The end result was still not overly pretty, but there is something to work with. The Patriots, relying on veteran offensive line coach Doug Marrone, apparently feel like they can do just that.

Run blocking expertise

The Patriots’ offensive plan last season to rely on the ground game as a catalyst did not work out, in large part due to the blocking up front being less than adequate. The center spot, manned by four different starters, was no exception.

Time will tell whether or not the addition of Bradbury will be a fix, but he is an able run blocker who has shown that he can move bodies at the point of attack. For Patriots run game that had issues gaining positive momentum throughout 2024, that might be just what the doctor ordered.

Draft outlook TBD

Signing a soon-to-be 30-year-old who was just let go by his previous team might not turn out to be a long-term solution at center. If the Patriots agree, they very well might look at the draft to insert some youth and developmental upside.

If so, there are several players worth considering, starting with North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel and Georgia’s Jared Wilson

Zabel is a tackle-to-interior convert who impressed at the Combine and might come off the board early on Day 2. While more of a developmental investment given his lack of experience, he has the tools to anchor an O-line for years to come. Wilson has those too, and despite a lower overall ceiling than Zabel seems like a potential Day 1 starter in the NFL.

If the Patriots don’t want to invest a high to medium Day 2 pick in their center spot after signing Bradbury to a two-year pact, there are still plenty of suitable targets available. Those include Ohio State’s Seth McLaughlin, Texas A&M’s Jake Majors and Boston College’s Drew Kendall — all candidates to possibly take over a starting role in 2025, but would also make sense to serve as developmental depth behind Bradbury early on.

The spirit of Dan Connolly lives on

To add this one on a lighter note: Garrett Bradbury might be the closest thing the Patriots have had to Dan Connolly since the man himself. Back during the 2021 season, after all, he made one of the best plays you will ever see an interior O-lineman make.

Enjoy: