The starter at center is on the way out
When the Minnesota Vikings signed center Ryan Kelly away from the Indianapolis Colts early in free agency, the writing figured to be on the wall for incumbent starter Garrett Bradbury. Now, it sounds like that news is going to come sooner rather than later.
Reports have surfaced from numerous sources that the Vikings intend to release Bradbury if they can’t find a trade partner in the very near future. The move would free up around $3.6 million in cap space, or $5.25 million if they wanted to designate him a post-1 June cut. In the latter case, they would have to carry his current cap figure until that date.
Bradbury is the last member of the squad from the Vikings’ draft class of 2019. when the Vikings drafted him at #18 overall out of North Carolina State. He’s played in 88 regular season games for the Vikings in his career, all of them starts.
We’ve seen a lot of the same things from Bradbury throughout the course of his career. He’s always been a pretty solid performer in the run game, but struggled quite a bit in pass protection. He played well enough to get into a second contract with the Vikings, but now the team has decided to move in another direction.
After this announcement, I’d be surprised if a trade were to materialize, given that the Vikings have made their intentions known. Whether it’s by a trade or by a release, Garrett Bradbury’s time in Minnesota appears to be at an end.
