It’s holdout season in the NFL, and New England Patriots defensive star Matthew Judon missed practices this week in Foxborough as he pursues a new contract. That holdout appeared to be ending Wednesday when The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported the Patriots offered him a new deal. That is, until Judon posted on social media that Russini’s report was inaccurate.
After a fan tagged Judon on X asking the veteran defensive end to accept the Patriots’ offer, Judon responded by calling Russini’s reporting “lies” and accusing her the NFL insider of trying to make him “look bad.”
“No they haven’t (offered him a contract) but it makes me look bad again,” Judon wrote. “Don’t believe the lies.”
On Wednesday morning, Russini posted that New England had an offer on the table for Judon.
After Judon rebutted that, Russini put out a new post clarifying that New England made offers to Judon earlier in July but that the two sides had not agreed on a deal. The original post was deleted.
Previously, video emerged from training camp of Judon arguing with new head coach Jerod Mayo on Monday. That was the last time he was seen at Patriots practice.
Matthew Judon is entering the final year of his contract approaching age 32.
While it’s not uncommon for athletes to rebut media reports, especially about their health and contract status, this one is unique given that it is playing out entirely on X without either Judon or Russini directly addressing the other.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.