Matt Judon trade: Bears GM opens up about failed attempt to acquire star pass rusher from Patriots

The Atlanta Falcons quenched their thirst for pass rush help along the edge of their defense by trading for four-time Pro Bowler Matt Judon, but they almost didn’t get him.

Atlanta had a clear need ranking 25th in the NFL in quarterback pressure rate (32.7%) and tied for 21st in sacks (42.0) in 2023, but another NFC team also swiped away at the last moment. Both the Falcons and the Chicago Bears, according to The MMQB, offered a third-round pick for Judon, and given their proposals were essentially equivalent, the New England Patriots were cool with letting the veteran choose his next NFL home.

The Falcons made the trade without a new contract in place for Judon, which is something Bears general manager Ryan Poles was not willing to do, as revealed on HBO’s most recent episode of “Hard Knocks.”

“Our language is basically saying if the contract is not signed then he reverts back to New England,” Poles told his special advisor, Ted Crews, via NFL.com.

“I don’t want to get the club in a position where we have a player that’s here, we’ve given up a draft pick, and we haven’t had a resolution on a contract.”

It’s smart business, as the New York Jets are currently caught up in a situation where they traded a future draft pick for a pass rusher looking for a new contract, and he hasn’t been in the building because he still hasn’t received his new deal. Still, it hurt Poles to miss out on adding a veteran presence on the edge. 

“If he has 20 sacks or something, yeah it’ll make me sick,” Poles told director of football administration Matt Feinstein.

Judon obviously chose the Falcons because they are in an NFC South division that seems to be very much up for grabs year-to-year while Chicago has some stiff competition in the NFC North with two of their division foes, the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers, both winning at least one playoff game last season. Atlanta walked away…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/matt-judon-trade-bears-gm-opens-up-about-failed-attempt-to-acquire-star-pass-rusher-from-patriots/

Author : Garrett Podell

Publish date : 2024-08-21 13:53:19

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