3 Patriots on the Trade Block After the NFL Draft

3. Matthew Judon, EDGE

There may not be a more "ideal" time to trade Matthew Judon than before the 2024 NFL season starts. Talk about a flaming hot take.

I would say it's extremely unlikely the Patriots trade Judon, but I want to point out a few reasons why it could make some sense.

First of all, the Patriots have invested in younger players off the edge. They drafted Keion White in the 2nd round last year, and they brought back both Anfernee Jennings and Josh Uche in free agency this offseason. There's a commitment to the youth there off the edge in New England by this new regime.

Beyond that, Judon is going to be 32 this season (August 15) and is coming off a year in which he only played four games due to injury. The fact that he had four sacks in those four games speaks to the level at which he's still playing, but how long is that going to last? And how do the Patriots maximize his value given the fact that he could be gone after this season?

The final factor here is that Judon is a free agent after the 2024 season. The Patriots could obviously bring him back, but there's no guarantee of that as he'd be entering his age 33 season in 2025.

Given their young options, Judon's age, his contract situation, and the fact that he was hurt last year, the Patriots could take the $6.7 million in cap savings along with probably a pretty nice draft pick and move on before they get nothing in return.

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