Life in the NFL can come at you fast. Just ask new Chicago Bears center Garrett Bradbury.

Bradbury was in Arizona on Friday, where he spends time training during the offseason, when the New England Patriots called him out of the blue. Over one minute, the Patriots told him he’d been traded to the Bears. Then came a second one-minute call from the Patriots before Bradbury saw the news released to the public.

Bears head coach Ben Johnson capped off a dramatic 10 minutes when he called Bradbury to welcome him to Chicago.

“In a matter of about 10 minutes, everything changed, and I hadn’t had a chance to even tell my wife,” Bradbury said over Zoom on Thursday. “So that was a shock to the system. But I think once you download it, once you process it, you start thinking through the logistics, and then you get excited, so definitely shocked though.”

Once the dust started to settle, Bradbury realized the situation he was suddenly in. His wife was thrilled once she heard about the trade since she’s originally from Naperville.

Bradbury also started to realize the football situation he was now in. Yes, he left a team that had just reached the Super Bowl, led by second-year quarterback Drake Maye. But he joined a Bears team that had just won the NFC North and lost in the NFC divisional round in overtime, led by second-year quarterback Caleb Williams.

The excitement only grew once Bradbury spent some time with Williams on Sunday at Halas Hall to finalize the trade.

“I’ve heard great things about him, and that reaffirmed everything that I’ve heard,” Bradbury said. “He’s an awesome guy, he’s obviously an awesome player, so I’m looking forward to getting to work with him and helping him any way I can and learning from him as well.”

Bradbury has a history of working with great quarterbacks during his seven-year career.

He spent five seasons as Kirk Cousins’ center with the Minnesota Vikings and one year as Sam Darnold’s in Minnesota. He also helped Maye last year during a most valuable player-like season.

Those quarterbacks had success with Bradbury as their general on the offensive line. Cousins threw for more than 4,000 yards four times and at least 29 touchdowns three times with Bradbury. Darnold threw for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns, and Bradbury and Maye finished with 4,394 and 31 touchdowns last season.

Bradbury learned a lot through his experiences with Cousins and Darnold. Cousins provided veteran leadership as Bradbury came into the league. Meanwhile, Darnold and Bradbury learned from each other.

Bradbury found himself in a veteran role with Maye and tried to impart his wisdom whenever the young quarterback needed it. The play on the field wasn’t bad either, allowing just two sacks and 29 quarterback pressures.

He’ll try to find those spots with Williams as he continues his progression after a big season leap.

“I think the quarterback position is so unique that there’s so many people talking to them, there’s so much on their plate that you don’t want to be a guy that just adds to that,” Bradbury said. “I kind of want to pick my spots and find ways. If I can help him in any way, then great, that’s what I’m here for. But I don’t want to add. I don’t just want to be another voice in their head.”

He’ll try to fill the role that former Bears center Drew Dalman left behind. Dalman surprised the Bears last week when he suddenly retired at the age of 27 after spending one season in Chicago.

Williams grew as a quarterback with Dalman as his center. Not only did he allow only one sack and 31 quarterback pressures last season. Dalman showed how smart he was, quickly grasping Johnson’s offense and helping Williams see everything opposing offenses presented.

That’s why Bears general manager Ryan Poles, Johnson, offensive line coach Dan Roushar and assistant offensive line coach Kyle Devan acted quickly to find Dalman’s replacement. They evaluated the landscape at center and decided Bradbury was the right replacement to help Williams.

“The big thing for us is finding the right fit in terms of what’s going to be adaptable and that’s going to fit into, especially the outside zone scheme, mid zone,” Poles said. “And we kind of went through that list and what’s best for us. You could go into free agency, you could trade. We felt like the best thing for us to do was to make that trade with a veteran center that’s played with a young quarterback before, that’s very good with his communication, smart, been in different systems. We feel like he can plug in and have command of that [offensive] line.”

While Bradbury is excited to work with a talented quarterback like Williams, he was “fired up” to play under Johnson.

“I’ve heard great things about him, and that reaffirmed everything that I’ve heard. He’s an awesome guy, he’s obviously an awesome player, so I’m looking forward to getting to work with him and helping him any way I can and learning from him as well.”

—  Garrett Bradbury, Chicago Bears center

Bradbury watched from the sidelines when the Vikings played the Detroit Lions just how hard the offensive line played with Johnson as its offensive coordinator. The Lions offense played a physical style of football and ran the ball a lot.

There are some offenses that a lineman wants to play in. Bradbury will get his chance after it came out of nowhere.

“It’s a physical brand of football, which I think everyone wants to sign up for,” Bradbury said. “The brief time I got to talk with him, he relayed that message. And so it’s going to be exciting, it’s going to be a lot of hard work, and that’s what I’m ready to sign up for.”