NFL insider says Patriots are ‘lightly shopping’ Matthew Judon
"They are lightly shopping him, making clear to the NFL that we're here to listen if you do want to trade for him."
There doesn’t appear to be much momentum towards a new contract for Matthew Judon, and the Patriots are now open to listening to trade offers from other teams about him according to ESPN’s Jeff Darlington.
“Well, I can tell you when it comes to Judon, we are at a point where the Patriots are at least listening to trade offers,” Darlington said during a recent appearance on NFL Live. “They are lightly shopping him, making clear to the NFL that we’re here to listen if you do want to trade for him.”
Judon is in the final year of his contract with the Patriots. The deal is worth $6.5 million in base salary this season.
His total cap hit, which includes his salary and bonuses is $14,675,848, according to Spotrac. Judon, who has made four of the last five Pro Bowls, is 14th at his position in average annual contract value.
TJ Watt, Khalil Mack, and Joey Bosa all have cap hits north of $25 million for this season. Base salaries can vary depending on how deals are structured.
Judon said earlier in training camp that he does not believe his current contract reflects what he is worth.
Judon missed all but four of games last season after suffering a season-ending biceps injury. He had played in all 17 games in both of his previous years with the Patriots and posted an average of 60 tackles and 13.5 sacks over those two seasons. Judon will turn 32 years old on Thursday.
According to Darlington, the Patriots aren’t close to trading Judon despite the lack of progress towards a new deal.
“I can tell you also that they really haven’t got much in terms of the type of interest that would consummate any type of deal,” Darlington said. “The Patriots have not upped or re-offered anything to Judon since their initial offer before training camp so it doesn’t feel necessarily like the level of urgency is there to get him back to practice.”
While he has expressed dissatisfaction with the contract, Judon has also acknowledged that he did sign it and remains under contract for this season.
He’d prefer not to play on it, but there’s a chance he may have to.
“To me, there’s nothing imminent outside of a team stepping up and making a trade offer,” Darlington said. “It really does feel like he’ll likely have to play on his $6.5 million deal this season.”
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