Last week, the Patriots cut longtime captain and center David Andrews with a failed physical designation.

The 32-year-old lineman is recovering from season-ending shoulder surgery he elected to have after tearing his rotator cuff in late September, believing it would give him a shot at playing again in 2025. Instead, the Patriots chose to part ways, and the news of Andrews’ release broke shortly before the team introduced several free-agent additions at a news conference last Thursday.

Now that the free agency buzz has died down, Andrews is speaking up about his exit.

“I definitely respect their decision. Do I like it? No,” the veteran center said on his Quick Snap podcast. “I think I could provide value. I was hoping that I could try to play and just try to get the ship in the right direction and help the organization and the community.”

Andrews said the Patriots informed him of their decision days before the news broke.

“I was living a pipe dream that I would hopefully make the decision myself,” he said. “What did Bill (Belichick) say? There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and you’re hoping it’s not a train, and I was hoping it wasn’t a train, and it was a train.”

Before his release, Andrews had been expected to help the Patriots transition back to the offense they ran for years under offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who returned for a third stint this offseason. He played under McDaniels for the first seven years of his career, starting in 2015 as a rookie starter.

“I knew that offense really well. I had a lot of success in that offense,” Andrews said on his podcast. “It fits my play style well, how I like to play, what I like to do. I’ve had a lot of success (in it) and was excited for that reunion.”

Andrews won two Super Bowls in New England and is all but assured a place in the Patriots Hall of Fame one day. The team is expected to hold a retirement ceremony whenever Andrews opts to hang up his cleats. Andrews is expected to try to extend his playing career, pending his health and contract offers.

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On Wednesday, the Patriots announced the addition of Andrews’ replacement, ex-Vikings center Garrett Bradbury.

Bradbury arrives as a career starter in Minnesota, where he entered the league as a first-round pick in 2019. He has consistently graded out as a better run-blocker than pass protector, allowing a career-high 38 pressures last season, per Pro Football Focus. Bradbury finished the season as the league’s 33rd-best center, per PFF, while leading one of the league’s worst offensive lines by year’s end.

At 6-foot-3 and 300 pounds, Bradbury is slightly undersized but an above-average athlete for the position. He’s regarded as a smart player. Bradbury is also durable, having missed just three games over the past two seasons combined. The Vikings, however, opted to replace him with free-agent center Ryan Kelly.