Davon Godchaux extension highlights Patriots' mishandling of Matthew Judon

In a season filled with plenty of re-signings and contract extensions offered to some of the Patriots' best players, a few of their top performers were on the outside looking in despite their individual dominant performances on the defense for the past three seasons.

It led to speculation that holdouts were likely as the team headed into training camp, which only looked half the case since summer practices began.

Davon Godchaux and Matthew Judon have both made their intentions clear throughout the offseason, emphasizing their desire to remain in New England and retire as Patriots. It was assumed to be music to the ears of the new regime, only for the negotiation talks to almost be treated as more of a nuisance than a luxury.

Most of the focus in recent days has been solely on Judon, as he abruptly left practice on Monday after animated conversations with Jerod Mayo and Patriots executives. Rumors have swirled since regarding contract talks between them, but Judon swiftly shut down all speculation.

As that was ongoing, NFL insider Adam Schefter revealed, which was then confirmed by the team, that his teammate received a two-year extension worth $16.5 million guaranteed, with the potential to earn $21 million by the deal's end.

Although that's positive news for the Patriots' defense, who will likely be without their best defensive tackle this season after Christian Barmore's health diagnosis, it doesn't provide much optimism regarding Judon's status with the team moving forward.

Eliot Wolf and the Patriots have completely mishandled situation with Matthew Judon

There were a lot of important players heading into this offseason as free agents and several others set to play on the final year of their contracts this fall. It meant the new regime in Foxboro was going to be on the hook for extending and re-signing their best players, which was emphasized by Wolf early in the year.

They have certainly accomplished that with the players they have reached agreements with over the past few months: Christian Barmore, Kendrick Bourne, Kyle Dugger, Hunter Henry, Anfernee Jennings, Michael Onwenu, Jabrill Peppers, Jahlani Tavai, and now Godchaux.

But one of the more concerning parts has been their seeming lack of urgency to get a deal done with perhaps their best defensive player in several years. Judon is the Patriots' best pass rusher since Chandler Jones in 2015, which has been perfect with the rise of dual-threat quarterbacks around the NFL.

We saw further evidence of his importance last season when he went down with a season ending injury in Week 4 and the pass rush was nearly nonexistent for much of the remainder of the season.

Because an extension is still yet to be reached, despite their success in getting deals done with several other players, it's a bad look for the new executives early in their tenures, especially as the team is now well in the midst of training camp.

It's a situation that could have been avoided had Judon's extension been prioritized ahead of others simply based on his production and importance to the defense's success, which would have ensured there was no distraction as preseason nears.

Now, the focus remains on what Judon's inevitable fate will be, with the most sensible being that he stays with the team. While his value is still high and makes him an easier tradable player, it's fair to assume the Patriots had a better chance at getting more in a deal earlier in the offseason than attempting to ship him off now.

Not to mention, why drag your feet this long and allow it to play out in front of the fans and media, only to eventually trade him anyway?

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