Matthew Judon reportedly gave Patriots major ultimatum before trade

Matthew Judon reportedly gave the New England Patriots a major ultimatum before he was traded away to the Atlanta Falcons on Wednesday night.

According to The Athletic’s Jeff Howe, Judon told the Patriots to trade him if they couldn’t sweeten his contract. The Patriots never sweetened Judon’s deal, and he was sent packing to the Falcons for a third-round draft pick.

Howe wrote:

Judon had previously told the Patriots to trade him if they weren’t going to sweeten his contract, and teams around the league knew it.

It’s an interesting situation considering the Falcons also reportedly never agreed on the parameters of a new contract with Judon before the trade was official. So the four-time Pro Bowl linebacker is playing on the same contract with $6.5 million in the final year that he would have played on in New England.

It’s a risky move by the Falcons, who will have to trust that they can agree on an extension with Judon at some point. Otherwise, they’ve set themselves up for bigger issues down the road after giving away a top-100 draft pick.