LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- At the time that Drew Dalman informed the Chicago Bears he was retiring after five seasons in the NFL, the team's brass immediately sought solutions to maintain continuity at the center position.
Three days after Dalman (who was entering the second year of a three-year contract) made his retirement official, the Bears sent a 2026 fifth-round pick to the New England Patriots for Garrett Bradbury, who manned the center position during the Patriots' run to Super Bowl LX.
The void was filled, at least for now, but Chicago's plan was far from complete. This wasn't about creating a stopgap solution. With as critical as the center position was to the success of the offensive line -- a unit that ranked No. 1 in pass block win rate and fifth in run block win rate -- along with the development of quarterback Caleb Williams, the Bears knew they had to come away with more solutions in the draft.
That's what led Chicago to Logan Jones, the unanimous All-America selection from Iowa who won the Rimington Award as the nation's best center. After six seasons (2020-25) with Iowa, where he originally began his career as a defensive tackle, Jones was drafted 57th overall in the second round.
In a matter of 50 days, the Bears' short- and long-term solutions were in place. How quickly the latter will be enacted now takes center stage as the Bears begin OTAs on Thursday.
The competition between Bradbury and Jones to see who will win the starting job at center won't begin in earnest until training camp, but there's belief inside Halas Hall that the rookie could be ready for his moment earlier than some might expect.
"The ball is in his court as far as I'm concerned," coach Ben Johnson said. "He understands that, just like with everyone else, we're looking to create competition and consistency day after day and building trust, not only with Caleb and the other quarterbacks but within that offensive line room and then obviously with the coaching staff. It's just a matter of time to build trust."
As he begins his NFL career, Jones has the benefit of learning under Bradbury, the 2018 first-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings who has started 105 games over seven seasons. Bradbury has one year remaining on his contract, which runs through the season and was restructured by Chicago earlier this month to convert $1 million in incentives into guaranteed money.
While every rookie handles his transition from college to the pros differently, the pedigree of the Iowa program -- which has produced some of the league's top offensive lineman, including Tyler Linderbaum, who became the highest paid center in NFL history this offseason -- along with the teaching and leadership the Bears expect Jones to receive from Bradbury, could pay early dividends for the 24-year-old.
"[Bradbury will] accelerate the learning curve," offensive line coach Dan Roushar said.
The Bears hosted Jones on a visit prior to draft, and Johnson said that's when he became "smitten" with the center. It wasn't just Jones' reliability or durability, rooted in his 51 consecutive starts for the Hawkeyes (the most by any FBS center since 2022) or the fact that he did not allow a sack or pressure during the 2025 season.
"My visit with him when he was here was extremely impressed by football knowledge, makeup, very mature. And, to me, it's not, 'We're getting a rookie.' We're getting a guy that's a little bit more of a seasoned player, which really is not uncommon for those Iowa linemen," Johnson said. "I think he's going to fall kind of next in line for a really good program the next guy out."
Given their depth at center, the Bears have the benefit of time with Jones' development. Bradbury winning the job to start the season is plausible given his wealth of NFL experience in working in multiple offenses with quarterbacks from Kirk Cousins to Drake Maye.
But the Bears set a precedent last season with another young offensive lineman, which proves when a player is ready, Chicago isn't keen on slow playing a rookie move into the lineup at a critical position.
After drafting Ozzy Trapilo in the second round in 2025, the Bears threw the 6-foot-8 former right tackle into the mix at left tackle throughout training camp. Though Trapilo didn't win the job initially, his work through the season in practice and in spurts during games got him ready for when he supplanted Theo Benedet for good beginning in Week 12.
The Bears could follow that same trajectory with Jones, and if he develops quickly, the second-rounder could find his way into the lineup quicker than expected.
"You're looking [for] guys to put good reps together back to back to back to back every day and be the same person and get better," Roushar said. "You see improvement. And I think by the time we get through training camp and through the preseason, we'll have a really good idea where he's at relative to the competition at that position."
That's not an easy task for any player, let alone a rookie who will have to shoulder a bigger level of responsibility than ever before.
"He knows that that center position is, I don't want to say, it's unique to what we ask them to do, but I would say we're probably on the higher end in terms of NFL teams and what we ask those guys to be able to handle," Johnson said. "And so I know he's up for the challenge."
The process for Jones begins with building a relationship with Williams on and off the field to manifest a seamless center-quarterback exchange. The quicker Jones is able to master that, the faster he could start.
"It's kind of a race against time," Jones said. "You're trying to get better as fast as you can, right? And be ready. It's going to go like this and next thing you know we're going to be involved in camp. So doing what I can now, to better prepare myself for when that time does come just in the film room, watching tape, or just learning the offense, just everything.
"There's a lot I'm trying to do fast, but there's some things I got to slow down on a little bit, take time so I understand, like, the reason why we're doing things versus what we're doing."