FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Matt Judon and his future with the New England Patriots is arguably the biggest question looming over the club as it opens training camp. This offseason, the organization seemed to make it a point to take care of its own, signing several in-house free agents and soon-to-be free agents to extensions. However, the veteran pass rusher was not one of them. That begged the question of whether Judon, who has been vocal about wanting a new deal as he is set to hit free agency after the 2024 season, would elect to hold-in or even show up to camp at all.
First-year head coach Jerod Mayo indicated before the start of the first practice of camp that Judon did report and would participate, which came to fruition Wednesday.
Matthew Judon takes the field. pic.twitter.com/j3RLjBX57v
— Tyler Sullivan (@TylerSully) July 24, 2024
That nugget alone was juicy in its own right, but the spice was sprinkled in after the session as Judon spoke to reporters in what was a candid nine-minute back and forth.
"Honestly, it's tough going into the last year of the deal," Judon said. "You kind of look at everybody around the league and in the building and you see them getting deals done and worked out, and it's tough to not be jealous or envious or something like that but honestly I've got to focus on myself. I'm happy for those guys and as much as everybody wants to see me stay around here for a long time it's really not up to me. I'd pay myself a lot of money and stay around here for a long time, but it's not up to me. You've got to ask those guys that's making those decisions."
Judon is set to make a base salary of $6.5 million this season and a total cash return of $7.5 million, which is a bargain if he returns to the player he was before his season-ending biceps injury in 2023. When asked directly, Judon noted that the Patriots have not explicitly said he will be playing out the final year of his deal with no extension, but acknowledged that he would if that's ultimately the decision.
"I got to, honestly," he said of playing on his current contract. "Again, like, I signed a deal, my signature's on it, so I gotta play on it. Would I like to? No. Do I think that's my value? No. But again, that's not up to me."
The soon-to-be 32-year-old has been vocal on social media talking about his desire for a new contract, which has sparked some questions about whether or not he'd welcome a trade. Just recently, Judon reposted a trade proposal from an X user that suggested the Patriots move him and a second-rounder for disgruntled San Francisco 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk.
"Do I want to be traded? Hell no," Judon answered when asked about that social media activity.
"It ain't up to me," he continued. "You only can control what you can control. It is so much stuff that goes on in our life day-to-day that we have to respond to. If I'm traded, that's not up to me. I'm responding to all the variables in my life, as a dad, as a son, as a brother, as an uncle and as a football player. God blessed me with a lot of talents and a lot of attributes and a lot of charisma and all that stuff, but that's one thing that I don't get to control. So if I go to San Francisco, or I've seen trades to Atlanta, Detroit, all that stuff -- the stuff y'all see, I see, as well. But I just don't buy into it. Once they tell me I'm gone, that's when I'm gone."
The fact that Judon was out participating in practice does suggest that things have not devolved into a dire situation between the two sides, but the longer the pass rusher goes without reworking his deal, it will be fascinating to see if the tune changes.
