The New England Patriots will turn the page next season and enter a new era, but first-year head coach Jerod Mayo would prefer to keep a few seasoned veterans in place, including edge rusher Matthew Judon.
Judon’s current contract keeps him with New England in 2024, but the clock is still ticking with the 31-year-old set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2025. And even though Judon is coming off a torn bicep injury that concluded his campaign last season in Week 4, Mayo understands what the four-time Pro Bowler has brought to the table since becoming a Patriot in 2021.
“Look, there’s no question that we want a guy like Judon,” Mayo told reporters Monday at the NFL annual meeting, per team-provided video. “And look, going back to keeping our own, Judon was a guy in Baltimore. He just happened to be a great guy and a great fit, a culture add for us. And we wanna keep Judon. We wanna keep him but that’s more of a question for Eliot (Wolf). But those conversations have started. We know that he’s still a premier rusher in this league, but as we continue to go forward, we want him to be a piece of the puzzle.”
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Three years into his New England tenure, Judon has amassed 32 sacks with 84 solo tackles while serving as one of the few reliable pieces of a still-unreliable overall roster. Considering the organization is starting at square one with a new head coach, a soon-to-be-named new starting quarterback plus a handful of gaping voids to be filled before the Patriots can return to their winning ways as a yearly playoff contender.
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New England restructured Judon’s contract last August, which boosted his guaranteed salary to $14 million, however, that only provided a temporary solution. The Patriots have more roster holes to be addressed than one hand could count, but at the same time, Judon too will await the organization’s decision before other teams can play vulture at the end of the 2024 season.
From Judon’s perspective, staying healthy will be priority No. 1. He’ll earn the remaining $7.5 million left on his current contract with the Patriots this upcoming season, leaving the rest up to New England’s higher ups to figure out moving forward.
Featured image via Eric Canha/USA TODAY Sports Images
