The Matthew Judon-Patriots drama spills over to social media

Wednesday is an off day for New England Patriots training camp. Still, the team has managed to make headlines.

To start, they signed yet another contract extension, with defensive tackle Davon Godchaux agreeing to a two-year deal Wednesday afternoon. However, it's the extension they haven't signed that's been the bigger story.

That, of course, is the extension edge rusher Matthew Judon has been looking for since the start of training camp. The two sides haven't been close according to Mike Giardi of Boston Sports Journal, and what played out on Wednesday showed that.

Early Wednesday afternoon, Dianna Russini of The Athletic posted on Twitter/X that "Matthew Judon was absent from yesterday’s practice because he seeks a revised contract. Since then the Patriots have made an offer, per source. This could help move things in the right direction."

Just a few minutes later, Judon refuted the report. In a reply to a fan account reacting to Russini's initial post, Judon said "no they haven’t but it makes me look bad again. Don’t believe the lies."

That was then followed again a few minutes later by another post from Russini, seemingly reworking her initial report. "Matthew Judon was offered a few revised contracts from New England before training camp, they have yet to agree on a re-worked deal, per sources," Russini tweeted.

This all comes after a week that has been highlighted by the ongoing tension between the Patriots and Judon over his current contract situation. As the Patriots have paid a number of other players, Judon expressed a desire at the start of camp to get an extension done as he enters the final year of his current deal.

With no deal done, things took a turn on Monday during the first padded practice of the summer. Judon took the field not in uniform at the start of practice, and had animated discussions with head coach Jerod Mayo as well as front office leaders Eliot Wolf and Matt Groh. Judon left practice early that day without participating, only to return before leaving early again. Judon then missed Tuesday's practice, and was reportedly not at the facility at all that day.

Now, the Patriots are stuck with some tough decisions as to what to do with Judon. Can both sides put the last few days behind him and get a new deal done? If not, does a trade become a part of the discussion?

The Patriots were in a similar situation in 2021 with cornerback Stephon Gilmore (minus the saga that occurred at practice on Tuesday). Gilmore ended up starting the year on PUP, and was never activated. Instead, the team traded him to the Carolina Panthers at the trade deadline for a future sixth-round pick (which they used on wide receiver Kayson Boutte).