(Photo by Chris Unger/Getty Images)
With the Bill Belichick era officially coming to an end after the 2023 NFL season, the New England Patriots were clearly headed in another direction, as they also traded away one-time Pro Bowler Mac Jones, sending him to the Jacksonville Jaguars to backup Trevor Lawrence.
Longtime team owner Robert Kraft has been reluctant to start from scratch since the departure of superstar quarterback Tom Brady, but after another losing year last season, he knew this was the best way to go and started cleaning house.
As a result of the changes made by Kraft and company, the Patriots have a new head coach in first-timer Jerod Mayo and a new player to potentially build into the new face of the franchise, with the team selecting former North Carolina Tar Heels star Drake Maye with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
With the Patriots now in rebuilding mode, there’s been much speculation about the future of Matthew Judon, arguably the team’s best player and leader on the defensive side of the football.
Despite still playing at the top of his game, Judon has struggled to see eye-to-eye with the Patriots brass on a contract extension, as it seems New England is unwilling to meet his terms despite having a lot of cap space currently.
Judon recently discussed his contract situation and admitted that the Patriots haven’t responded to his latest proposal via Savage Sports.
“I don’t want to be the villain, I don’t want to be the bad guy. But it’s like, shoot, bro, help me out; we got the most caps in the league right now. I wrote out my own contract…they just ain’t respond yet,” Judon said.
Matthew Judon on his contract situation:
Per: @MarcLewisIsCool
“I don’t want to be the villain, I don’t want to be the bad guy. But it’s like shoot bro, help me out, we got the most cap in the league right now”
“I wrote out my own contract…they just ain’t respond yet” pic.twitter.com/Fn6PcfSBdu
— Savage (@SavageSports_) July 29, 2024
The one thing that could be holding up the process is New England’s potential desire to maintain flexibility regarding cap space and not commit to players long-term, considering that they are in a rebuilding process.
Only time will tell how things pan out between Judon and the Patriots, but the veteran could be playing for a new team sooner rather than later if a deal can’t be made.
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