Rebuilding Patriots sends clear message with Matthew Judon trade

Rebuilding Patriots sends clear message with Matthew Judon trade

The Patriots performed well for themselves on Wednesday night.

One day before the second preseason game of the 2024 season, New England reportedly traded Matthew Judon to Atlanta. Eliot Wolf and his team were able to charge the Falcons a third-round draft pick, which was a pretty good return for a 32-year-old who is coming off a season-ending injury and is dissatisfied with his expiring deal.

So, the alleged Judon blockbuster may most likely be attributed to a win at Foxboro, Mass., where high draft picks will be critical for the foreseeable future. But as the red sleeves left New England, the white flag was raised.

To be sure, the Patriots were likely to have a long 2024 season even if Judon stayed. New England lacks sufficient offensive talent to stay up with its division, let alone the rest of the NFL. Even if the Patriots’ roster had improved, adjusting to a completely different regime after being overseen by the same guy for more than two decades was always going to be difficult.

We probably should have known before the Judon deal that New England was OK with trudging through the season. Even after picking the potential next face of their franchise, the Patriots did little to help their struggling offensive line. New England spent the majority of its summer extending homegrown talent and other fundamental players who the team sees as part of its future.

However, the Judon trade highlighted the message. The Patriots traded the four-time Pro Bowler less than three weeks after Christian Barmore was diagnosed with blood clots. Judon became even more vital to New England’s 2024 success when Barmore’s entire season was jeopardized, and the Patriots were quite content to let him go.

Jerod Mayo’s squad is rebuilding, and some fans may have forgotten about it when the front office handed out a slew of new contracts this spring and summer. However, the Judon trade served as a stark reminder that New England’s focus is on the future, and the upcoming season will be but a temporary setback.