The Patriots and outside linebacker Matt Judon have agreed on a reworked contract that will guarantee him more money and allow the perennial Pro Bowler to make up to $18 million this season, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Judon, who was scheduled to make $2 million guaranteed this season, will now make $14 million fully guaranteed. The 31-year-old is now being paid in line with other elite edge rushers around the league. Judon’s contract has not been extended, meaning he is still only under contract through 2024. Judon will get a signing bonus as part of the new deal, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Under his original deal, Judon had only $2.5 guaranteed remaining over the next two seasons. He reportedly sought a revised deal from the team this spring but was rebuffed. Over the past week and a half of training camp, Judon has been sitting out most practices for contract-related reasons, sources told the Herald.
Judon’s previous deal included an $11 million salary in 2023 plus $1.5 million in bonuses. He signed the four-year, $56 million contract in 2021 and has made the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons with the Patriots, setting career highs in sacks in 2021 (12.5) and 2022 (15.5).
Judon would typically warm up with teammates during training camp practices before departing for a side field to work on conditioning. The pass rusher had told reporters that he had agreed with the team to work on conditioning leading up to padded practices. His limited work continued once pads came on, however.
“Me and the guys talked about it, and we both felt like all ‘right, we can do that for two days,’ ” Judon said last week. “Then we can ease into things. I’m in my eighth year. I think y’all know what I do on Sundays, occasionally Saturdays, Thursdays, maybe Mondays. And we’ve seen that. We got 90 players out here right now. And so that was kind of in the talks. We’ve got 90 players. Let’s wait a little bit.”
Judon was not participating in an in-stadium night practice Friday. He was present for the session but wearing street clothes.
The linebacker has only met with reporters once since training camp opened. He didn’t want to talk about contracts with the media.
“I’m happy to be here, man,” he said. “I’m definitely not going to talk about contracts with y’all. Y’all some snitches. But I’m happy that I’m here. I’m happy that I’m a Patriot. And then wherever that goes, it goes. The market changes every day. We’ve seen it the first day of training camp, a whole bunch of people got paid, the market changes every day. But I will not talk about contracts.”
Judon has 120 tackles, 28 sacks, 28 tackles for loss, 53 QB hits, four pass breakups, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in 34 games with the Patriots. He had 34.5 sacks in five seasons with the Baltimore Ravens before signing with the Patriots as a free agent.
He has stated that he wants to retire as a Patriot.
“Everything has made it to where I feel like I want to stay here for the rest of my career,” Judon said. “But if that’s not in the cards, that’s not in the cards. I felt like that when I was a rookie. I felt like that my fifth year, but that wasn’t in the cards for me. I don’t get to choose that. I just get to tell y’all how I feel.”
