Jerod Mayo Assesses Patriots’ Decision To Trade Matthew Judon

FOXBORO, Mass. — Patriots first-year head coach Jerod Mayo routinely said as of late that Matthew Judon did his job both in the meeting room and on the field.

But that wasn’t enough to keep him with New England after a very public, and at times contentious, contract dispute. The Patriots traded Judon to the Atlanta Falcons on Wednesday night in exchange for a 2025 third-round draft pick.

It wasn’t an easy decision for the Patriots to move on from arguably their best defensive player, but Mayo believes the deal was in the best interest of both sides.

“Look, you guys know how I feel about Judon and obviously he’s moving on,” Mayo said following New England’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in preseason action Thursday night. “I feel like it’s a win-win for both parties and I wish him nothing but the best. I always tell the guys these are long-term relationships and nothing’s changed.”

Judon, who was set to make $6.5 million in the final year of his deal, wanted a pay raise for the second straight season, but this time, the Patriots were hesitant to give him one despite handing out contract extensions like Halloween candy to a number of Judon’s teammates.

The Patriots likely didn’t want to make a hefty or long-term financial investment in Judon with him coming off a major injury — he tore his biceps which limited to four games in 2023 — and on the wrong side of 30.

There’s no doubt Judon was highly productive over his three seasons with the Patriots, accumulating 32 sacks in 38 careers games with almost half of that sack total coming in his 2022 Pro Bowl season.

But he became a big distraction with New England trying to establish a culture under Mayo. Judon at times was a hold-in during training camp by attending sessions but not participating in team drills and things boiled over early in camp when Judon and Mayo got into an on-field spat.

With Judon no longer in the picture, Mayo will look to for a collective effort to fill the void.

“We’ve gone years without having a premier rusher — Chandler Jones, the Judons of the world — but we were able to manufacture pass rush through our stunt and games and our game planning,” Mayo said. “It’s not going to be one person. It’s hard to sit here and say one person can replace Matthew Judon both on the field and off the field. But I think we have a good group ready to go to step into those shoes.”