The Athletic’s Mike Sando brought up a major discussion centering around the idea that the Baltimore Ravens could trade for Chicago Bears center Garrett Bradbury, who the Bears just traded a fifth-round pick to the New England Patriots to acquire Bradbury not long ago.
“Garrett Bradbury, acquired by Chicago from New England this offseason, would be a logical trade target if the Bears like what they see from Jones, the center they drafted in the second round,” Sando wrote. “Bradbury played at NC State when current Ravens offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford coached the position for the Wolfpack.”
‘Baltimore is going to let everybody who can snap the ball try,’ an exec said. ‘That would not be a bad trade. If I’m Chicago, I would not trade him until I know what I have with Logan Jones and know he is the guy.'”
The problem is, trading Bradbury away would mean bad news for the Bears.
Trading Garrett Bradbury Would Mean Bad News for the Bears
Bradbury is essentially on a one-year contract that has a cap hit of $5.7 million, according to OvertheCap.com. Chicago had plenty of options in free agency, yet they opted to trade for a center for a reason.
Signing a center would have been a much more expensive route, and Bradbury fits the specific outside zone scheme that Ben Johnson uses on offense.
“We monitored a lot of different things that were happening,” Bears general manager Ryan Poles said. “The big thing for us is finding the right fit in terms of what’s going to be adaptable and that’s going to fit into especially the outside zone scheme, mid-zone. And we kind of went through that list and what’s best for us. You could go into free agency, you could trade. We felt like the best thing for us to do was to make that trade with a veteran center that’s played with a young quarterback before.”
Even with the drafting of Logan Jones in the second round, even with the confidence that he’ll be able to produce on Day 1 as a potential starter, even with the idea that Bradbury is a one-year rental, that doesn’t mean trading Bradbury away would be a beneficial move.
Loss in Value, Loss in Stability, Loss in Depth
Going back to the Bears trading for Bradbury, they sent a 2026 fifth-round pick. It’s hard to believe the Ravens would send Chicago anything equal to or higher than a fifth-round pick for Bradbury.
That would be a loss in value.
Now, let’s say the Bears are confident Jones can be the Week 1 starter (the hope is that’s the case regardless of Bradbury’s situation). What will the Bears’ backup plan be if Jones sustains an injury? Chicago doesn’t have another center on the roster. They’ve worked 2025 sixth-round pick Luke Newman at center, but he’s never started a game at C in his career.
That would be a loss in stability and depth.
“We feel like he [Bradbury] could plug in and have command of that O-line,” Poles added.
Center is one of the most important positions in Ben Johnson’s offense. That’s why the Bears went out and signed Drew Dalman to a three-year, $42 million deal. That’s why the Bears drafted Jones in the second round. And that’s why the Bears traded for Bradbury and will not trade him to the Ravens without playing a single snap in Chicago.
Trading Garrett Bradbury Would Mean Bad News for the Bears