This detail prevented Bears from landing Matthew Judon
The lack of an extension led to Matthew Judon’s exit from the Patriots.
And it also kept him from landing with the Bears.
Chicago had the parameters in place for a deal with New England for Judon in exchange for a third-round pick that hinged on agreeing to an extension with the star pass rusher.
The deal never came to fruition, with the Patriots instead sending Judon to the Falcons for a third-round selection. Atlanta made the deal without an extension, meaning Judon may stay for just one season.
“I’m tormenting myself, but if you have your own guardrails that we put up to help us stay in the lane — we surely pressed up against them to acquire the player,” Bears general manager Ryan Poles told director of football administration Matt Feinstein during Tuesday’s edition of “Hard Knocks” on Max.
“But when it comes to losing all flexibility, like I don’t think that would be smart, even if he has success. Now, if he has 20 sacks or something, yeah, it’ll make me sick.”
The Bears ranked second-to-last in the NFL last year in sacks with 30 and know they must improve in that category if they hope to contend in Caleb Williams’ first season in the Windy City.
Chicago got a jump-start on bolstering their 2024 pass rush by acquiring Montez Sweat from the Commanders last year and signing him to a contract extension.
Adding Judon would have added even more firepower and the team’s internal projections approved of a potential addition, even coming off a torn biceps last season that limited him to four games.
“We believe he would help us get better, just his style,” Poles told team president and CEO Kevin Warren. “We think having the bicep, rather than like a lower-body injury, he still would play with the same intensity and explosion as he did before. It does come with risk, though, at 32 (years old).”
The deal had enough legs to it that senior director of player personnel Jeff King told head coach Matt Eberflus he thought the team would be completed.
Poles explained to special advisor to the president/CEO and chief administrative officer Ted Crews that the trade language stated that Judon would stay with New England if an extension could not be completed.
The segment on the potential trade did not reveal how close those talks came, but the Bears will now try to return to the playoffs without one of the game’s top sack artists.
“We try to do a really good job of creating parameters that make sense for our club and that put our club in a position to be successful now, but also down the road,” Poles said.
“I don’t want the club stuck in a position where we have a player that’s here, we’ve given up a draft pick and we haven’t had a resolution on a contract.”
Feinstein tried to console Poles by reminding him the team had traded up in the 2024 NFL Draft to help its pass rush while maintaining financial flexibility.
“It’s Judon for a three and some significant financial needs,” Feinstein said. “We traded a four for four years of Austin Booker.”
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