Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
With the regular season less than a month away, the Atlanta Falcons reportedly bolstered their pass-rush in a significant way Wednesday.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Falcons acquired pass-rusher Matthew Judon from the New England Patriots in return for a third-round draft pick. The deal generated plenty of reaction on social media, especially from excited Falcons fans:
marlonhumphrey.eth @marlon_humphrey
Didn’t see this coming. But at least the red sleeves can continue..! https://t.co/zYYjuivgEz
ronriko
@RonRikoszn
JUDON FOR A 3RD WE ARE SO BACK #Falcons
El Gato Grande
@muydelicioso79
Judon a Falcon I’m beyond ecstatic!! #riseup
Evan Lazar @ezlazar
Judon was the best post-Brady Patriot and it’s not close. Energetic, produced on the field and a great acquisition in free agency.
That said, the #Patriots getting a top-100 pick for him at this stage is a smart move. They need assets for the future. Got a long way to go. https://t.co/1ptgCIDa4R
The Judon situation had been hovering over the Patriots for much of training camp.
The 31-year-old has just one season remaining on his contract that is set to pay him $6.5 million in base salary. ESPN’s Mike Reiss and Jeremy Fowler noted Judon turned down a contract offer from New England this offseason and said on a podcast he wrote out a proposal to the AFC East team and was yet to hear anything in return.
Judon also turned heads on July 29 when he arrived at the team’s first full-pads practice of training camp without pads and then engaged in animated conversations with head coach Jerod Mayo, executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf and director of player personnel Matt Groh.
He missed the following day’s practice as well, although Reiss pointed out “things have since quieted down.”
New England now no longer has to worry about what it will do with Judon and received a draft pick in return.
Still, it is quite the on-field loss for the Patriots and quite the gain for the Falcons if the veteran can stay healthy. He was a Pro Bowler in four consecutive seasons from 2019 through 2022 for the Baltimore Ravens and New England and posted as many as 15.5 sacks (2022) in a season during that span.
Atlanta is trying to bounce back from six consecutive losing seasons, and it now has a potential All-Pro leading the way along the defensive front.
The Falcons start the season on Sept. 8 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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