The NFL draft is always fun for the players being drafted, but at the same time, they are coming into the new league and taking the job of someone else. One player who looked like they were a winner of the offseason before the draft but now might not be on the Chicago Bears for long is Garrett Bradbury.
Will the Chicago Bears move on from Garrett Bradbury sooner or later?
Nate Davis of USA Today listed the players who are on the thinnest ice after the NFL draft, and he was sure to include Brabdury.
Chicago needed to trade for Bradbury. The team was surprised by Drew Dahlman's retirement decision and acted quickly to get someone capable for a position where there are not many options. It was their first and fastest plan, but maybe not their best and longest plan.
The long-term plan is now for Logan Jones, whom the team drafted in the second round. However, history tells us that this is more than just a long-term play. Almost all centers who get drafted that high end up starting more games in their rookie year than they sit. Chicago is in a win-now mindset, and they did not spend a second-round pick on someone who cannot help them win this year.
So, Jones will likely open training camp as the backup, but he is going to have every chance to win the job in the preseason. If that is the case, the Bears will have two decisions. They could keep Bradbury and ensure solid depth behind a rookie center. Given their questions recently at left tackle, they may lean into having better depth.
The Bears could also trade Bradbury. He is a capable starting center, and some team could either lose theirs due to injury or they feel that they could compete this year, but center is not a strong point of their roster. The desperation of roster cutdowns could allow the Bears to receive a similar or better return for Bradbury than what they traded.
For Bradbury, it would be a disappointment, but he would likely rather start for a new team than be a backup to Jones. So, if Jones is going to start, even Bradbury would prefer it happen earlier, while he can still get traded. A month ago, almost everyone would pencil in Bradbury for 17 starts on the Bears. Now, the question is, will he start one game?
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