Matthew Judon Took the High Road on His Way Out of NE, But Admitted He and the Patriots Never Sat Down to Work Out a Deal
So apparently Matthew Judon is wasting zero time letting the people of Atlanta realize what they just got from New England in exchange for a 3rd round pick. Which is a high-energy, productive player who practices like it's fun for him and gives max effort on every down in every game.
Dante said earlier that even I can't spin this trade into a positive for the Patriots. And he's largely correct. I say again Judon has been the best player on the roster in the three seasons since Tom Brady left, and he's leaving a gaping Sarlacc Pit-sized hole in the Front-7.
The best light I can shine on this is that, given the fact the Pats painted themselves and Judon into a contractual corner, the only choices were to pay him or trade him. Keeping him around on his current contract was not an option.
Given the untenable situation they were in, getting a 3rd rounder (Atlanta's last year was No. 74) wasn't a bad haul for a 32 year old pass rusher who's going to require a huge bump in pay. But if I'm right about time being linear, then a 2025 draft pick isn't going to be pressuring any quarterbacks in 2024. So a team that the oddsmakers, pundits, mystics and statistics already assume will be among the worst in football has been downgraded further. So there's that.
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And while Falcons fans (assuming they exist and aren't just an Urban Legend) are already learning about what they got in the deal, Pats fans, who definitely still do exist:
… got a small reminder of what we've lost:
I'd expect nothing less. Again, allow me to remind the world that Judon signed here the season after Tom Brady left. He voluntarily walked into that post-2020 wasteland and was the prize of the free agent class of 2021. The one that won GM Bill Executive of the Year honors. He was up for the challenge of helping to right this ship. So it's no surprise he's appreciating the fans of New England and expressing no hard feelings on his way out the door.
What is a surprise is this little nugget he shared before that door hit him in the wallet pocket:
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tl;dw: Judon and Patriots management never actually sat down, face-to-face, mano y mano, and tried to agree on a contract that could work for all involved. I get this isn't 1973 and these aren't the Paris Peace Accords. You don't need to physically be sitting across a table from someone to hammer out an agreement. Every GM and agent in sports is in a virtual conference room every minute of every day and probably 99% of contracts get worked out via text. We all get it.
But Judon asked for a meeting. Personally, and through his agents. Would it have killed Eliot Wolf to grant it to him? After all, this isn't some entitled malcontent with an overinflated sense of self worth. Judon has been a model employee. He's earned it. Maybe meeting in person wouldn't have helped; but it sure couldn't have hurt. Maybe he and The Wolf might have looked into each other's eyes, seen the humanity behind those windows to the soul, and found common ground. A number that would keep the player here, the team just that much more competitive, and the good, decent, loyal people of New England that much more optimistic about an uncertain future.
We'll never know. Because the requests fell on deaf ears. Creating a situation where Judon appears to be getting everything he wanted, and Wolf taking the biggest gamble on a veteran player in his rookie season as GM. Let's just hope that draft pick turns out to be a home run and Josh Uche, Deatrich Wise and Keion White can step up their games and make up for the loss. Like Jerod Mayo said, "It's not going to be one person. It's hard to sit here and say one person can replace Matthew Judon, both on the field and off the field. But I think we have a good group ready to go and step into those shoes."
That's the only positive spin I can manage right now. And it's not much.