New Bears center Garrett Bradbury arrived at Halas Hall Monday for the start of the offseason program with two items at the top of his to-do list.
Acquired in a trade from the Patriots last month following the unexpected retirement of Pro Bowl center Drew Dalman, Bradbury intends to spend the spring building a rapport with his new teammates and learning the offense.
"From everything I've heard, it's a close-knit locker room, it's a close-knit team, a lot of continuity with the coaching staff as well, which is always key," Bradbury said. "So, it's finding my place and my role in this team and getting to know everyone. It starts with that, then learn the system, and everything falls in place from there."
Bradbury is familiar with the assimilation process, having signed with the Patriots last March after spending his first six NFL seasons with the Vikings. Starting all 17 games in 2025, he helped New England reach the Super Bowl.
"Everyone runs the same plays," he said. "It's what do you call them, it's how you identify things, how you look at defenses, that verbiage. I've gone through this a few times now. So, it's just getting up to speed on all the little things, the nuances."
Bradbury no doubt will benefit from reuniting with and lining up next to Bears All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney. The two were teammates at North Carolina State and roomed together when the Wolfpack played road games.
In Thuney's first season with the Bears last year, he won the inaugural NFL Protector of the Year Award as the league's top offensive lineman. In addition, he was named first-team All-Pro for the third straight season and voted to the Pro Bowl for the fourth consecutive year.
"I learned a lot from Joe in college," Bradbury said. "It's going to be awesome to get to play with him and just spend time with him. He's an older vet, he's an unbelievable player as everyone knows. You love familiar faces, but it's also cool to meet new guys. I spent time meeting all the O-linemen [Monday] and look forward to building those relationships."
Bradbury will also spend the spring forging a bond with quarterback Caleb Williams. The two first met last month when the veteran center flew to Chicago to take a physical and sign paperwork following the trade.
"Got to spend some time with him just getting to know him," Bradbury said. "He's obviously as advertised on the field but a really sharp individual off the field. I look forward to building that relationship and learning from him and being any help that I can be to him."
Bradbury and Williams both believe that they will develop cohesiveness on the practice field throughout the spring and summer.
"OTAs are a good time to really get to know him, and I'll see his play style and what he needs," Bradbury said. "That's part of what the next 13 weeks until training camp will be. And then training camp's another step in the process, so definitely looking forward to working with him."
"Being able to communicate, being able to speak about the offense, the cadence and things like that, that's a jump start," Williams said. "But it all comes down to reps—seeing how he snaps it and questioning him, him questioning me, us talking, communicating and then when we get out there just having the reps."
In joining the Bears, Bradbury returns to the NFC North. Selected by the Vikings with the 18th pick in the first round of the 2019 draft, he was Minnesota's full-time starting center in all six of his seasons with the team.
"There's some familiarity," Bradbury said. "Rosters have changed just in two years a lot, so it's not the same teams at all, but the familiarity will be nice. There are still some good friends in Minnesota in that locker room, so it'll be good to see them but at the same time compete. This is a fun division to compete in, and winning in the away games of the NFC North is a really fun thing to do, so I look forward to being a part of that."
