I believe he would have signed a 3 year deal.
To those who think "we aren't going to contend, why bother?" I say teams need to start somewhere. Judon is an upper tier player who not only would make the defense better (and would hopefully serve as a mentor to younger players) but takes some pressure off the offense to score every time they have the ball. When Maye likely starts next year he's going to need help on both sides of the ball to be successful.
The Pats had the $$$ to spend. No other FAs are walking through the door. No one wants to play here right now. The message is being sent very clearly that this team has zero interest in winning in the near future. All else being equal, if I'm a FA I'll take the same or less money to play somewhere else.
This team is praying that Drake Maye proves to be a lights out slam dunk pick. If he isn't, there doesn't appear to be any plan in place to build something here right now. Obviously no one knows what's happening behind closed doors but right now it doesn't look good.
We are spoiled by decades of the belief that anything other than a Superbowl winning season is a failure.