2026 NFL Free Agency: Patriots trade Bradbury to Bears for 2027 5th-round pick; Crosby to Ravens

Going to start the running file now since we might see an uptick in activity — minor and major — before the tampering period starts at Noon on Monday.

News items:

• Patriots trade center Garrett Bradbury to Bears for 2027 5th-round pick
• Patriots signed QB Tommy DeVito on a two-year, $7.4-million deal with $2 million guaranteed.
• Patriots will not tender restricted free agents OT Yasir Durant, CB Alex Austin and DT Isaiah Iton. Still waiting on LB Jack Gibbens and DT Jaquelin Roy.

- Developing - 

BSJ ANALYSIS

• On the Bradbury trade ... figured something might come at the center spot because the Patriots basically had three: veteran Garrett Bradbury, Ben Brown (extended during the season) and Jared Wilson. And you saw veterans Chris Dalman (Bears) and Brian Kelly (Vikings) retire recently, and some teams were going to be looking at lower-cost options than Tyler Linderbaum, who figures to break the bank in free agency.

Enter the Patriots (we discussed the possibility on the podcast on Tuesday).

The team got good value on Bradbury, and the move frees up an additional $4.7 million in 2026 cash, which brings my projected cash budget to at least $63 million.

What now at center? I don't think they're just going to hand the job to Wilson, so he's going to have to beat out Brown, who proved to be very capable when David Andrews missed most of the 2024 season. Both players can play guard or center. If the Patriots don't make another move at left guard — I think they will, but they also still have Caeden Wallace (would be a big surprise) — then Wilson and Brown would compete for those spots, with a draft pick also likely. It would not be a shock to see Brown win at center, and Wilson return to left guard, but I don't think that would be the team's preferred route.

But Bradbury going now and the team selling high was the right move. Bradbury was probably going to lose a camp battle, so better to send him off now.

• The DeVito signing makes sense in that Joshua Dobbs could be out after a camp battle, if it comes to that. The Patriots obviously liked what they saw from DeVito.