Few are more qualified to discuss Matthew Judon's contract situation than Bill Belichick. After all, the ex-New England Patriots head coach and general manager is the reason Judon enters the 2024 season looking for a new deal.
Belichick and the Patriots raised Judon's guaranteed money from $2 million to $14 million last year. However, it was a cash advance that moved some of the four-time Pro Bowler's 2024 base salary to 2023. He played in only four games last season due to a season-ending biceps injury and is now slated to make $6.5 million this year.
The new Patriots regime was unwilling to meet Judon's contract demands, resulting in the 32-year-old being traded to the Atlanta Falcons for a third-round draft pick. Judon is still scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next spring.
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"I'm kind of surprised that Atlanta hasn't extended Judon's contract," Belichick said Monday during his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. "I think that 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. But generally what I've done in those types of situations is try to, rather than extend the player -- which you can do certainly and there's times to do that -- but I think Judon's 31, 32, whatever he is. Extending that is a little bit different, so you put an incentive in there and give him an opportunity -- maybe he has a good year and gains some money in incentives. There's a lot of different ways to work around that."
Belichick acknowledged the Falcons will receive a compensatory draft pick if Judon departs in free agency, so the trade isn't as lopsided as it looks. The six-time Super Bowl champion head coach also admitted he didn't expect Judon to accept his contract offer in 2023.
"With Judon, that money was just moved forward. So it was taken out of the '24 contract and put into the '23 contract for incentives. I was a little surprised that they agreed to that, but they did," he said.
Belichick critiquing the Falcons' approach with Judon is ironic. The 72-year-old interviewed for Atlanta's vacant head coach position in the offseason but the team opted to hire Raheem Morris for the role. According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, the Falcons wanted Belichick as a head coach but not an executive.
As for Judon, there seem to be no hard feelings about the lack of an extension with Atlanta.
"The (Falcons) know nothing about me as a football player or as a man," he said, per ESPN's Marc Raimondi. "They know my previous resume. I can't really demand or ask for anything I haven't worked for. I'm gonna work for it."
Judon notched 32.5 sacks through his first two seasons in New England. He had four sacks in four games last year before his season-ending injury.