Matthew Judon made two things very clear this offseason: he wanted a new contract and also wanted to stay with the New England Patriots.
But unfortunately, none of those things happened.
And the end result was Judon being traded from the Patriots to the Atlanta Falcons.
The linebacker, who was always a fan-favorite in New England , spoke with NBC Sports Boston regarding the entire situation, and he didn't hold back.
"We never sat down and really came to the table," Judon explained. "I think that's the biggest point. They just kind of didn't know where I was at, we kind of didn't know where they were at."
"It was just always through text message or phone calls," Judon added. "I think that was the biggest disconnect."
Judon was caught up in a lot of controversy in the final month with the Patriots. He made it clear that he wasn't interested in a hold in and would play on his current deal even though he wasn't happy. However, there was one day that he showed up for practice, but went over and sat on the side instead of participating . After some heated discussions with the coaching staff, he left the field. And then the following day he was no where to be found.
But just a few days later, he was back out with the team as if nothing had happened. And when the head coach Jerod Mayo was asked about the situation, he just referred to it as a "bad day" for the linebacker.
After this, it seemed like things were trending in the right direction, specifically after the Patriots lost out on star receiver Brandon Aiyuk because they had the money.
But a deal couldn't get done.
While it is upsetting here that the Patriots didn't sit down officially with Judon to talk, they did do one thing right in the trade.
According to NFL Insider Albert Breer, it was the Chicago Bears and the Falcons who were involved in the trade talks and both offered a third round pick. So the Patriots gave Judon the option of whether he wanted to go to Chicago or Atlanta.
But regardless, his love for the fan base in New England is clear and he sent a message to them all.
“… I appreciate y’all for all the memories and everything y’all did for me," Judon said. "It’s not the way that we wanted and I’m sorry that my last play was a injury… as far as being fans and family, we’ll always be that. I’ll always be a fan of New England and Massachusetts because it done me so well… Hopefully y’all fans of mine wish me success, but I wish y’all nothing but success. And I’ll definitely be back to Foxborough. I’ll definitely be back… I just don’t know when.”
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