The 49ers have connections to a former first-round center.
The San Francisco 49ers have been one of the quieter teams in free agency, seeing quite a few free agents leave on lucrative deals, while not making any major moves in return.
They’ve instead looked to release a few veterans, letting go of fullback Kyle Juszczyk, defensive tackles Javon Hargrave and Maliek Collins, and long snapper Taybor Pepper, while also trading Deebo Samuel to the Washington Commanders.
That has raised questions about the team’s vision for the 2025 season, as they’ve elected not to spend much of their $43 million in cap space to bolster the roster via free agency.
General manager John Lynch mentioned the desire for the team to get younger and cheaper this offseason at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. So, it seems any major free agents would not only have to be in a position of need, but also fit that description.
Well, there is one soon-to-be free agent who would be younger, fit a position of need, and has a prior connection to the 49ers: Minnesota Vikings center Garrett Bradbury.
Drafted in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, Bradbury has been the Vikings starting center for the past six years, having signed a three-year, $15.75 million contract extension with the team back in 2023.
That was an offseason where several starting centers hit the open market, with many staying with their respective teams. Jake Brendel was also a free agent back then, re-signing with the 49ers on his four-year, $20 million deal that offseason.
Why is Bradbury’s name coming up? Well, the Vikings recently signed Indianapolis Colts center Ryan Kelly to a two-year deal in free agency, leaving them in a tough position with Bradbury.
The Athletic’s Dianna Russini revealed that the Vikings now plan to release Bradbury, who should have interest on the open market.
Being only 29 years old, Bradbury would be an upgrade over starting center Jake Brendel, which the 49ers have been in need of for quite some time.
Not to mention, San Francisco’s coaching staff were actually fans of the Vikings center coming out of the draft, believing him to be a good fit in head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense.
When breaking down the 49ers signing former Atlanta Falcons center Matt Hennessey back in December, offensive line coach Chris Foerster mentioned how the staff has always been very involved in the draft process, which is how they were initially drawn to the Falcons offensive lineman.
But, another player he name-dropped was Bradbury, which is certainly intriguing now.
“The one good thing with Coach Shanahan and what we’ve done here is that we’ve always been very involved in the draft with John Lynch and the personnel department,” Foerster said in December. “And so you’ve done, you always have a big list of guys. I don’t remember if I did Matt [Hennessey] when I was here, or I was somewhere, I don’t remember when Matt, I don’t remember Matt’s year off the top of my head. But I remember talking with Mike McDaniel about him and talking with Kyle. We all kind of looked at him and said, ‘Man, we really like this guy.’
“It’s like when Garrett Bradbury came out, the kid in Minnesota, same thing, a good fit for our system, a good player for our system. And Matt was that player. We really had high hopes for him. They took him in Atlanta, he was a good fit for them, but then they drafted another good fit, which was Drew Dalman from Stanford. And then they put him at center, they moved Matt to guard. Matt’s more of a center than a guard, so whatever’s happened with his crew then.”
The 49ers should have the chance to add Bradbury now, as he’d be transitioning to a familiar offense, fitting Kyle Shanahan’s desire for a veteran center.
However, there are reports suggesting that Bradbury could also be interested in the Seattle Seahawks, who recently signed his former quarterback Sam Darnold.
San Francisco has shown they won’t overpay for players in free agency. But, Bradbury fits a big position of need and the staff has shown interest in him in the past. Could he be the 49ers splash of the offseason?