Bill Belichick Provides Unique Insight Into Matthew Judon Situation After Trade
Bill Belichick has been surprised with how the Atlanta Falcons have proceeded since they acquired edge rusher Matthew Judon in a trade with the New England Patriots.
"I'm kind of surprised Atlanta didn't, or hasn't, extended Judon's contract," Belichick said when he appeared on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Monday.
"I think he's pretty undervalued for what his contract is, based on the way it was set up there. It was kind of a complicated situation."
Nobody knows Judon's contract situation quite like Belichick does. The former Patriots head honcho, who parted ways with the organization this offseason, was the one who gave Judon the cash advance last season. That ultimately meant Judon would enter the 2024 campaign on his modest $6.5 million base salary.
"With Judon, that money was just moved forward," Belichick said. "It was taken out of the '24 contract and put into the '23 contract for incentives.
"I was a little surprised they (Judon's camp) agreed to that, but they did."
Belichick said if he were in Atlanta he would add incentives to Judon's contract for the 2024 campaign. That probably won't come as much of a surprise to Patriots fans, who saw Belichick do that time and time again during his two decades in New England.
"There's a lot of different ways to work around that," Belichick said.
Another ironic aspect of Belichick talking about the Judon situation? The future Hall of Famer interviewed for the Falcons head coaching position this offseason before the job ultimately was rewarded to Raheem Morris.