Report: Patriots create $2.2 million in cap space by restructuring Matthew Judon’s contract

The New England Patriots entered Week 13 near the bottom of the NFL in salary cap space, but they have now addressed the issue. According to a report by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, after all, the team has restructured the contract of linebacker Matthew Judon.

The restructure will add $2.21 million to New England’s current cap room, and in turn increase the available resources to $2.77 million.

Judon, 30, originally joined the Patriots on a four-year, $54.5 million contract last March. As part of that deal, he was counting a team-high $16.5 million against the cap in 2022.

With his salary standing at $11 million, however, the team had the opportunity to convert parts of it into a signing bonus spread out over the remainder of the deal. That is exactly what happened in this case. As a result, Judon’s 2022 cap number was brought down to $14.3 million, while his cap hits in both 2023 and 2024 will increase accordingly.

Now in his second season with the team, Judon is again playing at a high level. A starting outside linebacker in the team’s top-five defense, he is ranked first in the NFL with 13 sacks through 11 games.

At the moment, he is leading all AFC outside linebackers in voting for the 2023 Pro Bowl Games.