Over the past week, the Atlanta Falcons have bolstered their defense more than any team in football — particularly this late in training camp. They added two All-Pros in Matthew Judon and Justin Simmons.
With Judon, his departure from New England seemed inevitable after hearing how the Patriots handled his contract situation this offseason.
Speaking to NBC Sports Boston, the former Patriots pass rusher broke down what went wrong that led to his eventual trade to Atlanta. Judon went into the offseason hoping for a pay raise as he was set to make $6.5 million this season. But the lack of communication from the Patriots front office sent a discouraging message to Judon, who turned 32 last week.
"We never sat down and came to the table… it was just always through text message or phone calls."
Matthew Judon reveals 'biggest disconnect' between himself and the Patriots pic.twitter.com/vmwiRhrybr
— NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSBoston) August 19, 2024
He said:
“We just never sat down and really came to the table … I think that’s the biggest point. They didn’t know where I was at. We kind of didn’t know where they were at. It was just always through text messages and phone calls. We just never sat down and actually talked about it. I think that was the biggest disconnect.”
Judon added that he wanted to have an in-person discussion with the Patriots brass — and let them know it too — but those meetings never took place.
