Patriots Judon Focused on Football, Not Contract: “I’m not mad”
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Patriots linebacker Matthew Judon has been at Gillette Stadium since mandatory minicamp began this week, with the veteran seemingly happy preparing with his teammates for the upcoming 2024 campaign after a long offseason.
Judon reportedly was on hand at various points of the offseason workout program, albeit he was described as “here at times” by Jerod Mayo earlier in the week when it came to his spring attendance.
The defensive standout wasn’t present for any of the team’s voluntary OTAs, with his contract seemingly as the issue thanks to the fact he’s in the final year of his deal, which has his base salary set at a paltry $6.5 million.
A freak elbow injury sidelined Judon just four games into last season, with the linebacker already having racked up four sacks and a safety before he got hurt. Had he stayed on the same pace, he would have finished the season with 17 sacks, putting him among last year’s top four league leaders in that category.
Instead, he remained sidelined, and despite rumors that he could have returned either late in the year or the postseason – had that miracle been on the table – he finished the 2023 campaign on injured reserve as his team ended up 4-13.
That finish saw Bill Belichick’s tenure come to an end, and the club has since turned the page under new head coach, Jerod Mayo.
Now the big question is whether or not the Patriots will potentially get something done ahead of the season, perhaps even keeping Judon here through the remainder of his NFL career.
Judon was asked by Boston Sports Journal writer Mike Giardi about his status for this year in an interview on WZLK’s The Rich Schertenlieb Show on Tuesday morning, with Giardi asking him whether or not he’d stage a “hold in” similar to last year before the club gave him a bump in pay.
The veteran said that he’s not interested in staging any “kind of protesting,” and he’s hopeful something will get done.
“Uh, right now, I’m just gonna get ready to play,” he told Giardi. “And you know, you kind of don’t – you kind of keep throwing tantrums, tantrums, tantrums, and then you don’t come out there and do what you’re supposed to do? It kind of gets old real fast, you know.”
“I ain’t really trying to do that. I’m just trying to come out here and play football, get ready for this upcoming season, and put our defense and ourselves in a position where we can win the most games or be the most effective.”
“So that’s what I’m really on right now. I ain’t worried about holding out, sitting out … kind of protesting. … Because that, last year, that stuff was trash. I ain’t really like that. Like I’m a football player, I don’t want to get into the agency side. So I’m gonna come out here and play some football.”
The one positive that came from the discussion is the two sides are apparently not far apart, and it sounds like Judon feels confident things will get worked out.
“Bro, I’m in the building right now,” said Judon. “We ain’t far apart, you feel me? You’ve seen me with my helmet and jersey on. I’m not mad.”
“So I’m trying to play football. I want to play football. That’s what I’ve been blessed to do. I’ve been blessed to be really good at it. And so playing football is kind of what I really want to do. The money will come. It’ll come if I’m good enough, right? If they value what I do.”
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