Insider Shares ‘Likely’ Outcome Of Patriots-Matthew Judon Saga

The Patriots have far more leverage, and Matthew Judon apparently knows it.

Judon has made it clear for a while now that he’s not happy with the current state of his contract. The star pass-rusher, who’s slated for a $6.5 million base salary on the final year of his deal this season, showcased his frustration by getting into it with head coach Jerod Mayo and staying away from the team for a few days.

The four-time Pro Bowl selection rejoined the team after a brief hiatus and stacked up full participation in practices and meetings, much to the delight of his coaches. This development probably wasn’t a sign of progress in negotiations, but rather Judon realized holding out wasn’t going to serve him well any longer.

“I can also tell you this, the Patriots have not upped or re-offered anything to Judon since their initial offer before training camp,” ESPN’s Jeff Darlington said on “NFL Live” on Tuesday, as transcribed by Bleacher Report. “So it doesn’t feel necessarily like the level of urgency is here to get him back to practice. To me, there’s nothing imminent. Quite frankly, outside of a team stepping up and making a trade offer, it really does feel like he will likely have to play on this $6.5 million deal this season.”

At this point, the only other outcome for Judon appears to be a trade. “Multiple teams” reportedly have contacted New England to inquire about the linebacker’s availability, but the Patriots apparently are only “lightly shopping” Judon. This might be due to the market, which probably isn’t very strong for a soon-to-be 32-year-old coming off a season-ending injury on an expiring deal.

So, it seems like Judon will pay out his contract with the Patriots, and the sides will go from there.