Matthew Judon is back practicing as a full participant at New England Patriots training camp after he reportedly received a pay bump for the 2023 season.
Prior to Sunday, the Pro Bowl edge rusher was at practice, but was a limited participant as he mostly worked out on the lower field, where players do conditioning work. Judon's suspicious inactivity over the first week-plus of camp led many to wonder if he was holding in to get a new contract as he originally only had $2 million guaranteed for this season.
Judon ended up getting $14 million guaranteed in the new contract, plus the opportunity to earn $4 million more in incentives to bring his potential salary to $18 million, according to ESPN.
As Judon's contract situation took a couple of weeks to figure out, it's easy to wonder how negotiations went between the two sides. Bill Belichick was in usual form though when he was asked about Judon's pay bump.
“I’m not going to get into any contract talks, before, during or after,” Belichick told reporters.
Belichick is happy that the situation is resolved though.
“Yeah, any time we sign a contract, then we were happy with it, they were happy with it, and it’s done,” Belichick said.
Belichick also seemed to defend Judon when asked about his increased availability during team workouts.
“He’s been here every day. He’s been a pretty active participant in everything,” Belichick said of Judon. “I won’t say he’s taken every rep, but he’s been out there. He’s been working hard; he’s been doing stuff inside.”
Bill Belichick *briefly* comments on Matthew Judon's contract adjustment 😁 pic.twitter.com/FGfvlUSXBW
— NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Coverage (@NBCSPatriots) August 7, 2023
It's been all lovey-dovey between the Patriots and Judon since the two sides agreed to a pay increase for the 2023 season late last week. On Sunday, Judon told reporters how appreciative he was of the Patriots.
“I think it represents that they want to keep me around here or keep me happy or just they’re representing they see what I did and they appreciate it for the organization,” Judon said. “So, when you do something like that — because they didn’t quite have to, if we’re being quite frank. They didn’t have to. They didn’t have to budge. They could’ve said, ‘sign this and this is what you’re going to do.’
“But they helped me out so I can help the team out.”
Now, Judon is focused on playing football and putting everything else to the side.
“Me and the guys upstairs got something done,” Judon said. “As far as my contract, you guys all know. It’s reported.
“I’m happy. They’re happy. We shook hands. And now, we’re playing football.”
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