How Matthew Judon ended up on the Falcons, not the Bears
The New England Patriots had a choice to trade Matthew Judon to the Atlanta Falcons or Chicago Bears. Why did they end up going with the Falcons?
Even before the New England Patriots traded Matthew Judon to the Atlanta Falcons earlier this week, it was clear the team was going to have options in a deal. A few days before the trade, ESPN reported the Patriots had “multiple teams” interested in the 32-year-old pass rusher.
By the time the trade came around there were two teams left with comparable offers – the Falcons and the Chicago Bears. Some fans were left wondering why the Patriots chose to send Judon to Atlanta rather than the Windy City. On Sunday, we got the answer to that question.
According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, the Patriots actually let Judon decide where he ended up. “New England, believing the Bears and Falcons were in a similar category, and with third-round offers from both, gave OLB Matthew Judon his choice of being dealt to Atlanta or Chicago,” Breer shared on Twitter/X on Sunday afternoon.
While Patriots fans will likely keep track of these two picks and see if the team got the better end of things once the NFL Draft order is finalized after the season, there is a benefit in the Patriots letting Judon choose his new team over considering which pick will be more favorable. For a team that needs to be more popular with players around the league (look at what happened with the Brandon Aiyuk situation) this show of good faith towards Judon – a player who was pretty much the face of the organization post-Tom Brady – could help them in the eyes of players and agents – even in a small way.
Plus, the real value in the Patriots adding an extra third-round pick isn’t so much in their ability to take an extra player, but the extra asset in general the pick represents. The Patriots are now in better position if they need to make a trade next offseason, either for a player (wide receiver?) or to move up in the draft.
With this report, there’s now really one big unknown left of the Matthew Judon situation in New England – what was the discrepancy that prevented him and the Patriots from agreeing to a new deal to keep him with the team? We should get an idea of that answer if and when Judon signs an extension with the Falcons, which still hasn’t happened as of Sunday afternoon.
