Matthew Judon is feeling happy as he’s back to being a full participant at Patriots practice after his contract for the 2023 season was reworked on Friday, Conor Roche of the Boston Globe reprts..

The Pro Bowl edge rusher reportedly agreed to a deal that bumped his guaranteed money for the upcoming season from $2 million to $14 million as he could possibly earn $4 million more in incentives.

Judon expressed gratitude toward the Patriots when he spoke to reporters on Sunday, the first time he’s done so since he amended his contract.

“I think it represents that they want to keep me around here or keep me happy or just they’re representing they see what I did and they appreciate it for the organization,” Judon said. “So, when you do something like that — because they didn’t quite have to, if we’re being quite frank. They didn’t have to. They didn’t have to budge. They could’ve said, ‘Sign this and this is what you’re going to do.’

“But they helped me out so I can help the team out.”

Judon has certainly helped the Patriots out in his first two seasons with the team. He’s recorded 28 sacks since he joined the Patriots in 2021, which is tied for the third-most in the league during that stretch.

But as Judon was entering the third year of a four-year, $54 million deal that he signed to join the Patriots, other edge rushers began to pass him in salary. Prior to Friday, Judon was set to have the 20th-highest salary among all edge rushers for the 2023 season.

So, Judon was reportedly a “hold-in,” reporting to practice but taking part in very few team drills as he mostly worked on the lower field for conditioning.

Judon downplayed any idea though that his contract status would’ve changed his approach for the upcoming season.

“Regardless of if I would’ve gotten something done or not, I’m playing free,” Judon said. “Y’all kind of know me and know how my personality is and how I approach the game day in and day out.

“So, regardless if I was out here or if I was down there [on the lower practice field] running, I was doing it wholeheartedly and I was doing it happily. It was never forced or it wasn’t like I was never thinking about something else. When I’m out here between the white lines, it’s all football.”

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