{"id":27634,"date":"2025-07-06T22:52:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-06T22:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=27634"},"modified":"2025-07-06T22:52:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-06T22:52:00","slug":"breaking-patriots-tabbed-to-pursue-54-million-edge-rusher-reunion-after-awkward-split","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=27634","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING : Patriots Tabbed to Pursue $54 Million Edge Rusher Reunion After Awkward Split"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Patriots-Matt-Judon-Reunion.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Patriots-Matt-Judon-Reunion.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Patriots-Matt-Judon-Reunion.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Patriots-Matt-Judon-Reunion.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Patriots Tabbed to Pursue $54 Million Edge Rusher Reunion After Awkward Split\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In his first season as New England\u2019s head coach, Mike Vrabel has placed a high priority on rebuilding the Patriots defense. In free agency, especially, the Patriots went all-in on defensive upgrades, making defensive tackle Milton Williams, fresh off a Super Bowl championship with the Philadelphia Eagles, the highest paid player in Patriots history with a four-year, $104 million free agent contract.<\/p>\n<p>Then Vrabel and football director Elliot Wolf made former Detroit Lions cornerback Carlton Davis III their second-most expensive signing of 2025, handing the 28-year-old a three-year deal worth $60 million, including incentive clauses.<\/p>\n<h2>Reunion With Rusher Who Got 32 Sacks in New England<\/h2>\n<p>But there remains work to do on a defense that sacked opposing quarterbacks just 28 times all season last year, fewer than any other team in the NFL. The Patriots were second-to-last in quarterback hits with 66. So what can New England do to prevent opposing QBs in 2025 from doing pretty much whatever they want behind the line of scrimmage?<\/p>\n<p>According to <em>Bleacher Report<\/em> writer Kurt Benkert \u2014 briefly a Green Bay Packers reserve quarterback himself \u2014 the answer may lie with a four-time Pro Bowl defensive end who was signed to the Patriots in 2021 by then-coach and general manager Bill Belichick.<\/p>\n<p>Matthew Judon, formerly of the Baltimore Ravens, earned two of those Pro Bowl bids with New England in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. He recorded a career high 12 1\/2 sacks in his first season with New England, and beat that personal best the following year with 15 1\/2.<\/p>\n<p>But everything fell apart for Judon in 2023, missing all but four games with a torn biceps muscle. His absence was undoubtedly a factor in the Patriots dismal 4-13 record that season, culminating in the firing of Belichick by franchise owner Robert Kraft. Judon accrued four sacks in the four games he played.<\/p>\n<p>When the season was over he approached the Patriots about a contract extension but got nowhere. In frustration, Judon got into what were described as \u201canimated discussions\u201d with then-coach Jerod Mayo and other Patriots brass at the first full-pads practice of 2024 training camp.<\/p>\n<p>The Patriots then traded Judon to the Atlanta Falcons. But even though Judon claimed that he would be carrying out a \u201cvendetta\u201d in the 2024 season, he scraped together just 5 1\/2 sacks \u2014 his lowest total in a full season since his rookie year of 2016.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/4m2T7FXGh5WM0dqmremCoA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTY0MDtoPTQyNztjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/new_england_patriots_wire_usa_today_sports_articles_330\/59220d3d1aaa7688eadb339038131e26\" alt=\"NFL analyst's simple reason for projecting Patriots as top-five improved  defense - Yahoo Sports\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Judon May Accept Team-Friendly Contract<\/h2>\n<p>Could he now come back to the Patriots on a team-friendly contract?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think they could use a little more edge help. Matt Judon got paid a little bit. He can go back on a team-friendly deal,\u201d said Benkert on the Bleacher Report NFL Daily podcast. \u201cVrabel\u2019s got the culture back. Matt Judon liked the culture before. \u2026Bring Matt Judon back to the Patriots.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brett Alper of the Chat Sports Patriots Today podcast echoed Benkert\u2019s recommendation, though cautioning that the reunion would be \u201cawkward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would love to bring Red Sleeves back,\u201d Alper said, referring to Judon\u2019s habit of wearing a shirt with bright red sleeves underneath his uniform. \u201cHe was one of my favorite players. I would do it on a one-year deal, but he would have to probably apologize to Elliot Wolf.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Judon is a free agent after now having concluded the four-year, $54.5 million contract he signed with the Patriots in 2021. Given his injury and drop-off in performance in Atlanta even when healthy, the Patriots could probably bring Judon back on an economical deal for a short period of time \u2014 with the possibility of high upside for New England\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The league-worst New England Patriots pass rush looks to get better this season, and a reunion with one elite edge might be the answer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-england-patriots"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING : Patriots Tabbed to Pursue $54 Million Edge Rusher Reunion After Awkward Split - 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