Training camp for the New England Patriots had largely been dominated by Matthew Judon storylines. The star pass rusher made it clear he wanted a new contract, and he became more and more frustrated as all of his teammates got new deals, while he ended up getting the short end of the stick. It was clearly a tense situation, and it came to an end on Wednesday night when Judon got traded to the Atlanta Falcons.
This isn't a massive trade by any stretch of the imagination, as the Pats only got a 2025 third-round pick in return for Judon, but it did leave Pats fans a bit upset. Judon had been the team's best player in the post-Tom Brady era, and without him, their defensive line is going to take a notable hit for the 2024 campaign and beyond.
It's important to contextualize these moves based on logic rather than emotion, though, and when you take a step back and look at this move from that angle, it becomes very obvious that this was the only move New England could reasonably make without hurting themselves in the future. Let's take a look at why that was the case in this unique situation with Judon.
The Patriots ran out of options with Matthew Judon
The Patriots front office, led by Eliot Wolf now after Bill Belichick's tenure with the team came to an end, focused much of their efforts towards keeping the players they liked from the end of Belichick's regime in place. The list of players who either re-signed with the team in free agency, or agreed to a new long-term extension, is pretty long as a result.
Judon was the odd man out in those discussions, especially after fellow defensive lineman Davon Godchaux signed a two-year, $21 million extension shortly after training camp got underway. Sure, Judon was underpaid, but he's coming back from a serious biceps injury that ended his season after just four games last year at the age of 32.
According to the man himself, Judon wanted to finish his career in New England, but only on his terms. The Patriots are not going to be good in 2024, and everyone knows that. Judon liked playing for the Patriots, but burning a year of his career on a non-playoff team for a salary less than what he believes he worth wasn't part of his plan, which has only further been reinforced by the fact that he doesn't have an extension in place with the Falcons now that he's been traded to them.
That last note alone should tell fans all they need to know about this situation. Judon didn't really want to be in New England unless he was making a pretty penny, which put the Pats front office in a tough spot. Do they burn a big chunk of their future salary cap space on an aging pass rusher who is coming back from a serious injury, or do they unload him in an effort to further aid their rebuilding efforts?
Make no mistake, a third-round pick isn't going to drastically change the future for the Patriots, but it was the most logical option for this team. They aren't going to be contending for a title for quite some time, so what's the point of extending Judon when he isn't going to be on their next championship team, especially when his asking price is likely beyond what the front office wanted to offer. It simply made no sense.
Sure, they could have paid Judon, and some fans will likely believe that's what they should have done. The 2024 Patriots would undoubtedly have been better off with him on their defensive line, but again, what does that really mean? New England isn't winning a Super Bowl this season, but we've known that for quite some time, so throwing tons of cash at Judon never made much sense.
What fans are also forgetting is that the Pats defense managed to make due without Judon for pretty much the entire 2023 campaign. Not having Christian Barmore, who was recently diagnosed with blood clots, will certainly make repeating that quest in 2024 more difficult, but New England has some talented young pass rushers who can take on a bigger role and develop in Judon's absence.
It's a shame the two sides couldn't figure something out, but Matthew Judon made it so that this was the front office's only logical move. Anything else wouldn't have benefitted the future of the franchise, and that's really the only thing that matters right now. While it's a tough pill to swallow, this is what New England had to do, even if it makes them worse off for the 2024 campaign.
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