The Falcons just can’t seem to steer clear of drama. Much of it has to do with the organization being the punching bag for the entire league, especially in recent years.
This offseason, in particular, sparked controversy for Atlanta when they were searching for a head coach, entangled in a Bill Belichick mess, but that was just the beginning. The Falcons then inked Kirk Cousins to a lucrative free agent contract and drafted Michael Penix Jr., leading to even more laughs and jokes.
To a certain extent, you can’t bother listening to the noise, especially if you’re Raheem Morris and the Falcons, but somehow, they continue to be painted in a bad light. It’s continued with the Matthew Judon trade.
The latest coming from Belichick and Albert Breer, with the former questioning Atlanta’s approach and the latter adding another wrinkle to the trade.
“Judon was not as well-liked by the coaches and front office people as you might have thought,” Breer said Friday during an appearance on NBC Sports Boston. “That was really part of it at the end. They were just sick of him.”
“They felt like there was the public-facing Judon and there was Judon behind the scenes,” Breer said. “Judon behind the scenes has sort of become a little bit of an operator and his act had worn thin with people inside the building…It’s something that was an issue in Baltimore too.”
The four-time Pro Bowler became available for trade due to a contract dispute. The 32-year-old was entering the final year of the deal and reportedly wanted a new contract. However, to everyone’s surprise, the Falcons and Judon didn’t have a contract in place following the trade.
Breer continued, saying that Judon “became a problem” this offseason, and the shift of the Patriots went to, “What do we do to move him off the roster now?”
“It’s not saying he’s a bad guy, but there was some of this again, like, this sort of cheerleader stuff on social media that a lot of people in the organization would roll their eyes at,” Breer finished. “There was a little bit more to the Judon trade than just the contract situation.”
Bill Belichick, in a completely unrelated appearance, threw his two cents into this entire thing, questioning what the Falcons are doing not extending Judon.
“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.”
The Bears also reportedly didn’t want to make a deal with the Patriots if Judon didn’t agree to a contract extension, while the Falcons were clearly comfortable making the trade without a new deal in place.
It’s a bit atypical for a veteran player to want to play out his contract. In today’s NFL, it’s all about getting your money early and often. Of course, if Judon turns in another double-digit sack and Pro Bowl campaign, his price will be more expensive than it is today, but that’s a risk.
For a 32-year-old coming off a season-ending injury, it’s odd that Matt Judon doesn’t want guaranteed money. In that same breath, the Falcons should be wanting to get a deal done. Waiting and seeing is how you end up like the Cowboys, who are paying every single player top of the market money, which I guess Atlanta is already doing with Chris Lindstrom, A.J. Terrell, and whoever else is coming down the pike.
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Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire
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