Josh Kendall, Chad Graff and Jeff Howe
The Atlanta Falcons bolstered their pass rush Wednesday with a trade for New England Patriots edge rusher Matthew Judon, according to a league source. The Falcons will send a third-round pick to New England in exchange for Judon, multiple league sources said.
Judon, a fifth-round pick in 2016, was a Pro Bowl selection from 2019 to 2022 and has 66 1/2 career sacks. He had 28 combined sacks in 2021 and 2022 but only played four games last year due to a biceps injury. Judon was blunt this offseason in expressing his disappointment in not receiving a contract extension from the Patriots.
The Falcons are last in the NFL in sacks in the last five seasons (138), and their offseason attempts to fix the problem this year were damaged when third-round pick Bralen Trice suffered a torn ACL in the team’s preseason opener Friday night against Miami.
What this means for the Patriots
There are two ways to look at this trade for the Patriots.
On the one hand, this is great value for a disgruntled player coming off a season-ending injury who turns 32 years old on Thursday. The Patriots have handed out extensions to virtually every eligible player from last season’s 4-13 debacle, but drew the line with Judon. While he had been their best player for long stretches over the last three years, it’s hard to see how a 32-year-old with injury risks fits into the long-term plans for a rebuilding team.
On the other hand, an already-bleak Patriots outlook in 2024 now gets a bit more grim. Without Judon last season, the Patriots’ pass rush struggled. Only Christian Barmore notched more than five sacks. But now Judon is gone and Barmore is out indefinitely after a blood clot diagnosis. So the Patriots’ pass rush could be in store for a tough season. And that’s on top of mighty struggles from the offense this training camp, painting a potentially bleak scene for 2024.
That said, the Patriots’ goal isn’t to be as good as possible this season, but to rebuild for the future. And in this case, that means shipping off a frustrated veteran for a Day 2 draft pick. — Chad Graff, Patriots staff writer
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(Photo: Billie Weiss / Getty)
