Earlier this month, Matthew Judon took to social media to address fan’s idea the New England Patriots needed to sign him to a contract extension with a good dose of pessimism. The Patriots continue to re-sign other players, most recently on the defensive side of the ball even.

On Monday, the situation seemed to come to a different head. Judon was not participating in practice, which led to what looked like a heated confrontation with head coach Jerod Mayo.

Jerod Mayo appears to exchange some words with Matthew Judon who is not participating in practice today. Judon seen exiting the field after their conversation 👀 pic.twitter.com/BJvP64tnpS

— NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSBoston) July 29, 2024

Judon left the field, and he did not practice on Tuesday. That’s what we’d call a “hold in” these days, as Judon shows up so he can’t get fined but doesn’t actually practice. On Wednesday, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported the Patriots offered Judon “a few” revised contracts before training camp.

Judon refuted that report. saying on Twitter “No they haven’t, but it makes me look bad again. Don’t believe the lies.” That seems like a direct call out of whoever Russini got her information from, possibly someone prominent in the Patriots’ organization.

Judon is in a different situation than other players the Patriots have recently signed to long-term deals. He’ll turn 32 on August 15, and he missed all but four games last season due to a bicep injury. His relationship with the front office, and possibly now Mayo, has taken a turn that could push things toward a trade.

Grade the trade idea: Lions rescue Matthew Judon from the new “Patriot Way”

As Judon has surfaced as a potential trade candidate, and someone the Lions could target to bolster their edge rusher group, we’ve already graded a trade proposal that was put out there.

The question is if the Lions have, or would have, interest in Judon. Marcus Davenport is off to a nice start at training camp, but there are still question marks at edge rusher, and head coach Dan Campbell acknowledged how they’ll have to back things off for Mathieu Betts as a SAM linebacker as he makes the transition from the CFL.

Driven by recent developments, Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report offered up fresh list of hypothetical landing spots for Judon. The Lions are of course on the list.

“Judon would be an obvious upgrade over every edge-rusher on Detroit’s roster not named Hutchinson. Even after extending stars such as Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, (Penei Sewell) and Taylor Decker this offseason, the Lions still have $33.8 million in cap space available.”

Of course any idea of trading for Judon has two-fold criteria Knox did not address: the trade cost, and what he wants in a revised, extended, etc. contract. It’s hard to see the cost being more than one or two Day 3 draft picks. The Lions could make, as an example, a reworking of his contract with a one-year extension work.

Will we see Brad Holmes add OLB Matthew Judon in the next couple of days? 👀

The Lions currently have the 2nd Most Cap Space in the League and the Best Odds to land Judon at +350

📸: @NBLTITO | #OnePride pic.twitter.com/qZ5W7ZS8Ba

— 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔢𝔱𝔯𝔬𝔦𝔱 𝔗𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔰 📰 (@BrandNewDET) July 31, 2024

It’s hard to find an untenable flaw in the idea of the Lions trading for Judon, should they pursue it.

Grade: A-