On March 17 of last year, five days after signing Ryan Kelly to a two-year, $18 million contract, the Minnesota Vikings parted ways with center Garrett Bradbury after six seasons.
The Vikings had attempted to find a trade partner, but with the writing on the wall with the Kelly contract, nobody took the bait, and the 2019 first-rounder was outright released. And it certainly didn't take him long to find a new home, as he inked a two-year deal with the New England Patriots worth up to $12 million, with $3.8 million in guaranteed money.
Now, it's not that Bradbury was ever the worst center in the league, but he was also nowhere close to the best and simply never lived up to his draft status. Sure, he was mostly reliable, as he only missed 12 of a possible 100 regular-season games during his six-season run in Minnesota. But again, by and large, he just never progressed to that next level for more than a few games at a time.
The Patriots certainly found that out in 2025, as Bradbury's 59.8 overall PFF grade ranked him 30th among 40 qualifying centers during the regular season. And in their 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 60, they really found that out, as the 30-year-old had his worst game of the year and was one of New England's lowest-graded players on the offensive side of the ball.
Ex-Minnesota Vikings center Garrett Bradbury had terrible showing in New England Patriots' Super Bowl 60 loss
It's no secret to anyone who watched the Super Bowl that the Patriots' offensive line struggled something fierce against the Seahawks' relentless pass-rush attack.
Drake Maye was pressured on 43.4 percent of his dropbacks and took six sacks, upping his postseason total to 21 to set an unfortunate new NFL record, as he surpassed the 19 sacks Joe Burrow took during the Cincinnati Bengals' Super Bowl run to close out the 2021 season.
And Bradbury was one of the worst offenders on the O-line, as he allowed six total pressures, the second-most behind only left tackle Will Campbell, and was credited with surrendering one of the six sacks taken by Maye.
With a 58.3 run-blocking grade and a 44.4 pass-blocking grade, Bradbury's overall PFF grade for Super Bowl 60 came in at 49.2, ranking the third-worst among all Patriots offensive players. The only two with worse marks were Campbell (38.2) and Maye (30.0). That's not a good look.