Bryan Bulaga said he has no hard feelings about his departure from the Green Bay Packers and expressed excitement about another opportunity to play for offensive line coach James Campen with the Los Angeles Chargers.
The veteran right tackle appeared on the “Wilde and Tausch” radio show on Tuesday to discuss the process that went into him leaving Green Bay to sign a new, three-year deal with the Chargers.
Bulaga said he talked with the Packers on Monday, the first day of the legal tampering period, but both sides quickly understood they wouldn’t be getting a new deal done.
“We kind of both knew we’d be going separate ways,” Bulaga said. “We knew pretty early we’d be parting ways.”
Later in the day, the Packers agreed to sign Rick Wagner, providing a replacement for Bulaga and ensuring he’d be playing elsewhere in 2020.
“There are absolutely no hard feelings,” Bulaga said. “I understand the business part of it. That’s the way it goes.”
Meanwhile, the Chargers reached out early and were “very persistent” in their efforts to sign him. The opportunity to play for Campen, his position coach in Green Bay for nine years, and play next to guard Trai Turner, a five-time Pro Bowler, was especially appealing. Bulaga, who agreed to a three-year deal worth $30 million with the Chargers, said he’s excited about a “new chapter” awaiting in Los Angeles.
In Campen, Bulaga will have a familiar face in the building and a coach who understands him as a player and what he’ll need “day in and day out” from a maintenance standpoint.
“It’s a good situation, for sure,” Bulaga said.
Bulaga confirmed the ending of his relationship with the Packers wasn’t ill-willed, even though he wanted to return to Green Bay.
“We had a pretty good idea this could be the direction it could go early on. I wasn’t shellshocked or totally caught off guard, I wasn’t blindsided by it,” Bulaga said.
The Packers’ first-round pick in 2010 still has many friends in the locker room and the building and wished his former teammates and co-workers well. Bulaga said he’ll miss the “relationships” and “friendships” built during his decade in Green Bay.
“I wish everyone there well. I hope they have a great year this year. I still have a lot of really good friends that I want to see do well and have success. All the best to the Packers going forward,” Bulaga said.
