Patriots’ Matthew Judon Turns Attention to Deebo Samuel

Deebo Samuel

Getty Deebo Samuel

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atthew Judon has spent much of the offseason trying to recruit players to the New England Patriots, and now Judon, after reaching out to stars such as DK Metcalf and Stephon Gilmore, has turned his eye to disgruntled San Francisco 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel.

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Samuel, 26, is unhappy with how the 49ers are using him on the field, as both a runner and pass catcher. He rushed for 365 yards on 59 attempts in 2021, scoring eight touchdowns on the ground. That’s in addition to catching 77 passes for 1,405 yards and scoring six TDs.

Before Judon made his pitch to Samuel, Patriots offensive tackle Trent Brown became the first player to attempt to recruit him. was the first player to reach out to Samuel but now the recruiting extraordinaire, Matthew Judon has entered the chat.

On his Instagram Stories, Judon tagged Samuel and Judon’s agent, Jerard Roggio, when sharing an April 22 tweet from Patriots salary cap expert Miguel Benzan that showed one way the Patriots could afford to acquire Samuel.

 


New England Has the Cash

The Patriots currently have less than a million dollars in cap space, according to Benzan, the fan turned cap expert detailed how New England could pay Samuel.

Benzan proposed simply converting most of Judon’s $10.5 million salary to a signing bonus. If the Patriots were to trade for Samuel and then sign him to a new contract, he likely would become one of the highest-paid wide receivers in the NFL. Spotrac projects Samuel to be worth a four-year deal worth about $89 million, which would rank him fifth among receivers.


Could the Patriots Pay the Price?

In his Monday Morning Quarterback column published April 25, Albert Breer detailed what general managers’ thoughts on the cost of acquiring Samuel.

“One rival GM said to me Sunday that he believes you’d probably have to go to (49ers general manager) John Lynch with two first-round picks, which would replace the 2022 and ’23 first-rounders the Niners dealt away last year to move up for Trey Lance, to wriggle Samuel free of San Francisco,” Breer wrote. “And that is a lot, even in comparison to the other big receiver trades of the early parts of this year.”

Breer added that because of Samuel’s preference to not play out of the backfield, some of his value has decreased.

“Samuel’s really dug in and hasn’t let his agent negotiate much (if at all) with the Niners,” Breer stated. “The Niners have shown no inclination to move him for the sort of prices Hill and Adams fetched. And it’s clear a lot of fence-mending would be needed to get the train back on the tracks.

“For that reason, it feels like this one could drag out a little while.”

So it seems that Judon will have to continue to recruit if he wants Samuel to end up in New England. If the Patriots were to acquire Samuel, it’s conceivable that they could become a top contender in the AFC. He would add to an already impressive group of wide receivers and give quarterback Mac Jones a supreme target to throw to.

 

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