Judon opens up about ‘disconnect’ that led to Patriots trade

Judon opens up about ‘disconnect’ that led to Patriots trade originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Matthew Judon and the New England Patriots never got on the same page this summer, and the result was a trade to the Atlanta Falcons.

After a rocky two weeks that included Judon having animated on-field conversations with head coach Jerod Mayo and executives Eliot Wolf and Matt Groh; skipping out on a training camp practice; and publicly voicing his displeasure with his contract situation; the Patriots dealt their star pass-rusher to the Falcons last Wednesday for a 2025 third-round pick.

Mayo called the trade a win-win for both sides, but how does Judon feel about leaving his NFL home of three-plus seasons?

“It was tough, but it was something that I think the organization needed to do,” Judon told host Kayla Burton in an exclusive interview on NBC Sports Boston’s Sports Sunday, as seen in the video player above. “It’s a business decision. I told y’all, man, I love the game. It’s just the business of it, it is what it is. And sometimes it’s tough and sometimes it’s not what you want or expect.”

Judon, who is set to make $6.5 million on the final year of his contract, was clear about wanting a new deal in New England. But our Phil Perry reports there was a “sizable gap” between what Judon sought and what the Patriots were willing to pay.

Judon told Burton that he and the Patriots didn’t meet in-person this offseason, which he believes would have been beneficial for both sides finding common ground.

“I don’t know — I feel like we just never sat down and really came to the table with me,” Judon said. “So I think that’s the biggest point. It’s like, they kind of didn’t know where I was at (and) we kind of didn’t know where they were at.

“It was just always through text message or phone calls. We just never sat down and actually talked about it. I think that was the biggest disconnect.”

Judon said he requested to have a sit-down with the front office to discuss his contract,…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/judon-opens-disconnect-led-patriots-155042575.html

Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2024-08-19 18:08:51

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