Garrett Bradbury takes shot at the Patriots in first comments with the Bears

"One of the more notable examples of that is offensive lineman Joe Thuney, who left the Patriots for the Chiefs in 2021, signing a massive five-year, $80 million contract that the Patriots very easily could have (and probably should have) offered. He has since won two more Super Bowls and is now continuing his career with the Bears."

"High-performing offensive linemen are not easy to find in the NFL, so it's generally unwise to allow someone like Thuney to walk in free agency. It's even worse when you then struggle for years to find an adequate replacement, and hopefully, the Patriots won't have that issue."

"New Bears center Garrett Bradbury says his college teammate Joe Thuney is "a stud." "It blows my mind that two teams have let that guy walk out of the building," he said, alluding to the Patriots and Chiefs."

Bill Belichick's tenure with the Patriots included numerous controversial personnel decisions, particularly regarding talented players released or traded during their prime years. Joe Thuney exemplifies this pattern—the Patriots allowed him to leave for the Chiefs in 2021 on an $80 million five-year contract they could have matched. Thuney subsequently won two additional Super Bowls with Kansas City and now plays for the Bears. His college teammate Garrett Bradbury, the Bears' new center, publicly criticized the Patriots' decision, expressing disbelief that two organizations let Thuney depart. High-performing offensive linemen are scarce in the NFL, making Thuney's departure particularly problematic given the Patriots' subsequent struggles finding adequate replacement talent.

Read at Musket Fire