Judon, who went to two Pro Bowls during his five seasons in Baltimore, signed a four-year deal with the Patriots this offseason for a reported $56 million.
Did the Ravens make a mistake in not re-signing him? It’s not a simple answer, Ebony Bird’s Justin Fried wrote.
“The Ravens wanted Judon back, and Judon wanted to come back,” Fried wrote. “But in a salary-cap-driven league, just because two sides want the same thing, doesn’t mean it actually gets done.”
Fried said that given the Ravens’ lack of salary-cap flexibility, it’s likely for the best that they didn’t re-sign him at the necessary price point.
“Judon’s cap hit explodes to $16.5 million in 2022 and 2023 with no feasible out until 2023 or 2024. That’s a lot of money to be tied into a player who will turn 30-years-old next August,” Fried wrote. “With the Ravens looking ahead to extensions for players like Bradley Bozeman, DeShon Elliott, and, of course, Lamar Jackson in the near future, having Judon’s contract on the books would restrict them even more than they already are.
“There’s also the notion that Judon’s production likely wouldn’t be the same if he was still in Baltimore. Sacks are rarely the best indication of a player’s pass-rush success, and the analytics would indicate that Judon’s pass-rush productivity hasn’t increased much since his departure.”
