New England

Patriots

Just days after it was reported Judon had multiple teams inquiring about him, Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz reports the Patriots are finalizing a trade to send him to the Falcons. He is entering the final year of his deal, set to make a base salary of $6.5 million. Judon was a brief hold-in to Patriots camp and now gets dealt. The Falcons presumably would be willing to give Judon a larger contract than the Patriots were and get the four-time Pro Bowler to bulk up their pass rush. ESPN’s Adam Schefter adds the Falcons are sending a third-round pick to the Patriots in return. While the Falcons do not yet have a new contract in place with Judon, he has been practicing with the Patriots and this is unlikely to turn into a situation like Haason Reddick’s with the Jets. Judon will be 32 at the start of the season, performing at a high level in New England with 32 sacks in 38 games. He previously spent five productive seasons with the Ravens. The Falcons now add Judon to wreak havoc as the most experienced edge rusher on the team.

Judon is in his final year with the Patriots and is set to make $6.5 million in the final year of his deal. Judon declined a contract offer from the Patriots earlier this summer and had a brief hold-in with the team before eventually reporting to practice. For a team that isn’t expected to contend for much in 2024, trading away Judon for future draft picks would be a wise move for both the Patriots and whatever contender is looking to acquire the veteran. Judon turns 32 years old later this week and is undoubtedly approaching the twilight of his career, but he should still have enough to serve as a high-end pass rusher if his four sacks in four games last season are any indicator.

After just one year into a three-year, $25.5 million contract, Smith-Schuster and the Patriots are headed for a split. The veteran receiver made little impact in his lone season with the team, catching 29 passes for 260 yards and one touchdown in 11 games while averaging 9.0 YPR — the second-lowest mark of his career. Smith-Schuster was reported “100 percent healthy” entering OTAs after dealing with a nagging knee injury for the last several years but was listed behind DeMario Douglas on the team’s unofficial depth chart. Rookie receiver Ja’Lynn Polk was also threatening Smith-Schuster for playing time, likely leaving him on the outside looking in for playing time. Cutting him will cost the Patriots just over $9 million in dead cap space this season, but this move doesn’t come as much of a surprise with the new regime now in place. At 28 years old, Smith-Schuster will likely catch on with another team in the coming days but will be hard to rely on for fantasy purposes in most landing spots.

Baker was the sixth Pats wideout into the game. It’s not surprising, per se, but Baker in theory had a bit of a shortcut to getting into the game sooner with Kendrick Bourne and Pop Douglas both banged-up. Not that you had re-draft expectations for Baker, anyways, but he is looking like a strict Dynasty option for 2024.

However, the No. 37 overall pick was in on the second drive with fellow rookie Drake Maye. He caught three balls, one of which was a sure-handed grab that got the Twitter GIF mafia fired up. The Pats seem intent on making Polk jump through a few hoops to earn his starting stripes, but that remains well attainable in this talent-deficient offense.

The Rams’ offensive line has taken some hits lately, prompting the signing of McDermott. The veteran lineman appeared in six games for the Patriots last season, making five starts, and split time between the Jets and Patriots in 2022. McDermott earned a PFF blocking grade of 67.8 last season while playing exclusively at left tackle; he can serve as a bookend tackle at either side for the Rams, who could run him with the starters sooner than later in camp.

According to Reiss, the 49ers “are now willing to listen to trade offers” for the star wide receiver and have granted him permission to seek out a new contract with potential suitors. Aiyuk and the 49ers remain at an impasse as he’s long sought out a new contract since breaking out for 75-1,342-7 last season. It was reported earlier by NBC’s Matt Maiocco that the Browns and Patriots could be in play for Aiyuk, with Reiss echoing that sentiment while also adding that “barring a change, [the Steelers] do not appear to be a potential trade destination any longer.” There was no mention of the Commanders in Reiss’ article. It sounds like a trade could be in the works once Aiyuk has a contractual agreement in place. We’d expect to hear more on this soon.

Per Maiocco, “now it’s up to Aiyuk to decide if he will accept either team’s contract terms.” It’s odd timing for a deal of this nature, but things are looking irreparable between the 49ers and their co-No. 1 receiver. The 2020 first-rounder just wants to get paid heading into the final season of his rookie deal, and the star-laden Niners aren’t in a great position to do so. This should get resolved within the next 24 hours. Both the Pats and Browns would be a steep fantasy downgrade, but the Pats far, far — far — more so.

Maye has received mixed reviews during his first training camp, with one reporter going so far as to say rookie sixth-rounder Joe Milton is outperforming the No. 3 overall pick. Veteran Jacoby Brissett remains entrenched as the Patriots’ starter for the time being and is expected to start Week 1 against the Bengals, barring an unexpected turn of events. With that said, it sounds like Mayo plans to get Maye involved with the first team at some point in camp and possibly even the preseason. Maye isn’t the first high-draft pick to struggle in camp, and he was never expected to break camp as the starter. We’ll see where the dust settles on this in a few weeks, but it doesn’t sound like the Patriots are eager to shoehorn him into an uncomfortable position early in his career.

Purcell has spent the last five seasons with the Broncos, starting in 37 of the 65 games he appeared in over that span. The veteran lineman is set to enter his ninth season as a pro and is coming off a year in which he totaled 25 tackles and one TFL. He’ll likely serve as added depth along a Patriots line that includes Davon Godchaux and Christian Barmore.