The Atlanta Falcons have landed the pass rusher they sought for years.
The New England Patriots traded top edge rusher Matthew Judon to the Falcons for a 2025 third-round draft pick, the teams announced Thursday. Judon had been practicing with the Patriots after a brief absence from the team.
The Falcons and Judon have not hammered out a contract for 2025 but plan to work toward one before the start of the season, a source told ESPN's Dan Graziano on Wednesday. The Falcons freed up some money against the salary cap Thursday by restructuring the contract of Pro Bowl guard Chris Lindstrom, moving part of his $12.5 million base salary into a signing bonus, sources told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.
"Thank you for everything, New England," Judon posted to Instagram on Thursday. "Atlanta, we ready."
Judon, who turned 32 on Thursday, is a four-time Pro Bowler who had a career-high 15.5 sacks in 2022 following a 12.5-sack season in 2021. He missed most of last year with a torn biceps.
"You get a guy with the ability to come in here and be a game wrecker for you right now, you figure out those things," Falcons coach Raheem Morris told reporters Thursday. "I have one real key factor. We did that out in L.A. with Von [Miller]. Got him middle season doing a trade, he was able to come in [and] turn into a game wrecker. I got a chance to see playoff Von. Got a ring because of it. Got a lot of success."
The Falcons have not had a double-digit sack leader since Vic Beasley in 2016, which corresponds to their last Super Bowl appearance. Atlanta lost edge rusher Bralen Trice, a rookie third-round pick, for the season due to a knee injury suffered Friday night in a preseason game against the Miami Dolphins.
On the first night of the draft in April, the Falcons drew criticism for taking quarterback Michael Penix Jr. after having already signed quarterback Kirk Cousins rather than selecting a pass rusher.
Judon is entering the final season of the four-year, $56 million contract he signed with the Patriots in March 2021. He is scheduled to earn a base salary of $6.5 million, which he made clear he believed didn't reflect his value.
The sides couldn't come to an agreement, and on July 29, Judon openly expressed his frustration at the Patriots' first full-pads practice of training camp, arriving on the field without his pads and watching teammates work while he sat on a flipped-over trash barrel. He had what appeared to be an animated conversation with first-year coach Jerod Mayo before walking off the field and later returned to speak with executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf and director of player personnel Matt Groh.
Judon missed two practices before returning to the team. Mayo said Tuesday that Judon had "done a great job in the meeting room and done everything that we've asked. He's meeting all expectations."
Judon was a fan favorite in New England, often taking the time to play catch with fans before practices and games.
The Patriots are coming off a 4-13 season and, led by the new Mayo-Wolf regime, are balancing short- and long-term considerations in trading their best pass rusher. A third-round pick has value for a team in need of an infusion of talent, but losing Judon is a hit to a unit that is the strength of the team.
ESPN's Mike Reiss contributed to this report.