Matthew Judon did something that not many players in his position would do. He agreed to a lateral trade and went on to play for the Atlanta Falcons for the same base salary. Mind begs the question of why he would do such a thing. One speculation is that he’s not happy with the management and the coaching staff for the New England Patriots.

Michael Lombardi, Belichick’s former assistant, expanded more on the speculation about Judon leaving the Patriots on the DraftKings podcast. Another astonishing thing about Judon’s deal with the Falcons is that the LB getting a new deal with the Atlanta team is not imminent yet.

“I can’t believe he went somewhere to play on the six million,” said Lombardi. “Obviously, he’s not happy with Mayo. I think that part of, ‘I’m out of here.’ If he’s agreeing to this deal without any extra money, he’s not happy with the front office or the coaching or something there because if you’re going to play for 6.2 [million], why would you want to move your family?”

Judon, going out of his way to get out of New England, speaks volumes about his decision. While money is one side of the coin, being able to win championships is another. Right now, the Patriots are not ready to win any championship. Despite having more than $44 million in cap space, the Patriots didn’t want to pay Judon, so obviously they also didn’t want him there. Can they build a better roster with a 2025 third-round pick? Who knows?

Judon remarked on it a few days ago. “I don’t want to be the villain. I don’t want to be the bad guy,” Judon said on the Shut Up Marc Podcast in July. “But it’s like, shoot, bro, help me out. We’ve got the most cap [space] in the league right now. They don’t even get the money. What the hell are y’all doing with it? Y’all literally just not using it.”

As it happens, the Pats cleared $5.8 million in cap space after trading Judon. Now, the Patriots have $59.6 million in cap space, per Bleacher Report. Though Judon expressed a desire to the Falcons to get a more lucrative contract, the Atlanta team is not entertaining his request.

What is the Atlanta Falcons’ future with Matthew Judon?

Before we get to answering this question, we might have to consider the possibility that the Patriots don’t have a chance of winning the Lombardi this season. Also, one of the main reasons he joined the Patriots was because of Bill Belichick, who was supposed to elevate his gameplay. His dreams of becoming the best have taken a backseat since Belichick’s snub.

“I was really thinking more coaching-wise instead of locker room-wise. I felt like I could be I could play my game wherever or I could be me wherever somewhere. Whereas a new coach, uh, that’s just not what I wanted to,” said Judon on Shut Up Marc Podcast. Judon walking out on Jerod Mayo during a practice scuffle is reason enough to assume that things were not going well between the two.

“I just — coming from (John) Harbaugh, I felt like going to Belichick was only a step up in caliber of coaches,” Judon said. “That everything that’s on Bill’s resume, all the wins or all the success or all the players that he has under him, I thought it was only a step up, and I think you kind of see that in my play style, you see that in my numbers,” is what the 4x Pro Bowler had to say when he left Baltimore to play for the Boston team.

Coming back to the current scenario, the Atlanta Falcons at least have a shot at a winning season with Kirk Cousins at quarterback. Per Mike Lombardi, the only thing the Falcons were missing last year was a good quarterback. Now that they have Cousins and Penix Jr. things might just take off.

Another reason why the Falcons might not be interested in giving Judon a long-term deal is because he recently turned 32 and giving him a huge extension might not make sense at this point. In fact, the Falcons and Judon haven’t even signed the current deal yet. Will Judon’s efforts work out in his favor? What do you think>