Jerod Mayo, Patriots players react to Matthew Judon trade
FOXBORO -- The Patriots traded away Matthew Judon on Wednesday night, sending the disgruntled pass rusher to the Atlanta Falcons for a 2025 third-round pick. Head coach Jerod Mayo and his players got their first chance to react to the deal following Thursday night's preseason game, and no one seemed particularly surprised that Judon will be playing elsewhere in 2024.
Still, Judon's presence on the field and in the locker room will be missed.
"You guys know how I feel about Judon," Mayo said after New England's 14-13 loss to the Eagles at Gillette Stadium. "And obviously he's moving on. I felt 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."
The Patriots and Judon were engaged in a contract spat all summer, with Judon set to earn just $6.5 million in the final year of his contract. This was because the Patriots moved around some money last season to give Judon more guaranteed money in 2023.
He wanted the Patriots to sweeten his deal a bit this year, which the team balked at. Executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf discussed the trade during the halftime show on WBZ-TV on Thursday evening.
"These decisions are never easy for us," said Wolf. "We wish him the best. He was a good player for us, and I know he's going to do good things in Atlanta."
Who will fill the Judon void in New England?
Now the focus becomes who will fill those big shoes on the edge, as Judon racked up 32 sacks in his 38 games for the Patriots. The New England pass rush has been generating plenty of pressure this preseason, with five sacks in each of the first two preseason games.
Mayo said that filling the Judon void will be a full team effort following Thursday night's game.
"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 stunts and games and our game planning," said Mayo. "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 and step into those shoes."
Josh Uche and Keion White both had sacks on Thursday, and will be key members of New England's pass rush throughout the season.
"As you can see, it's a next-man up mentality," White said. "We just feel like we gotta do what we gotta do. ... I try to be as disruptive as possible. Keep doing that and building on that."
White is a prime candidate to break out in his second NFL season, after he had just a one sack during his rookie campaign last year.
"Obviously Judon is going to be be missed. He was an excellent rusher and definitely brought a lot of things to the room experience-wise," White said. "But it's going to obviously open up some doors for some guys. It's all about taking advantage of the opportunity when it's presented."
Uche benefitted the most from having Judon on the field, and took advantage of all the attention the red-sleeved menace commanded from opposing offenses. Uche had a career-high 11.5 sacks two seasons ago, but just three last season when Judon missed most of the year with a biceps injury.
"Guys have taken on a next man up mentality. That's what he would have wanted us to do, and that's what we're going to do," Uche said Thursday. "It's all about the team. As a collective unit, we have to step up to the challenge. We all have a role to do, a job to do. At the end of the day, that's what we're going to do."
While it will be difficult to replace Judon's impact, the New England defense has been getting some disruptive play from a number of players this preseason. Sixth-year pro Oshane Ximines has recorded a sack in each of the first two exhibition games, and captain Deatrich Wise Jr. could see a lot more opportunities to get to the quarterback in the 2024 season.
