The 2024 NFL preseason is underway, and every team is trying to finalize its roster before Week 1 of the regular season. For some front offices, that includes making savvy trades to address weaknesses, attack their Super Bowl window or plan for the future.

We’ve already seen a handful of deals, and ESPN analytics writer Seth Walder is grading the biggest moves of August — starting with the Falcons’ acquisition of Matthew Judon from the Patriots after New England couldn’t come to an agreement on a new contract for the edge rusher.

To determine each grade, Walder is evaluating moves based on multiple factors, including on-field impact, salary cap implications, draft compensation, player’s age and what they add, along with the context of a team’s short-term and long-term outlook.

Let’s dig in on the Patriots-Falcons deal, and keep checking back all month as more trade dominoes fall.

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Trade tracker | Depth charts| Holdout tracker

Patriots get: 2025 third-round pick
Falcons get: Edge Matthew Judon

Patriots’ grade: A
Falcons’ grade: C

A week ago, the Falcons were down bad at pass rusher. Then third-round pick Bralen Trice suffered a season-ending knee injury and what was probably the weakest edge rusher group in the league got, well, worse.

Consider that this is the same team that signed a soon-to-be 36-year-old Kirk Cousins to a contract with $90 fully guaranteed this offseason. They’re all in to try and win a Super Bowl now. But signing Cousins isn’t enough to do that. He has to have a fantastic roster around him, and Arnold Ebiketie, Lorenzo Carter and James Smith-Williams don’t cut it as the primary edge rushers.

Basically, the Falcons were desperate. And they also had very little money to work with — the Falcons have just $3.5 million in 2024 cap space (fewest in the league) and $8 million in 2025 cap space before rollovers, of which Atlanta will get almost none. In Judon, Atlanta landed a player that maybe can be part of the solution, with “maybe” and “part” being pretty important words. I have my fair share of skepticism.

The case for Judon is that he recorded 15.5 sacks in 2022 (and 12.5 the year before that) and managed 4.0 sacks in an abbreviated four-game season last year. That’s what Atlanta’s buying — Judon’s past sack production.

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The stats behind the Falcons’ trade to acquire Matthew Judon

Check out Matthew Judon’s key stats during his time with the Patriots as the linebacker heads to the Falcons.

There are major red flags, though. For starters, Judon is a 32-year-old coming off a biceps injury that cost him the final 13 games of the 2023 season. And despite the four sacks last season, he only managed a 13% pass rush win rate at edge — below average for the position. Judon’s win rates were much stronger earlier in his career (18% from 2017 to 2021, a bit above average) but he was younger then, too.

It’s still unclear what Judon will cost financially. If his contract were to be left as is, he would cost Atlanta $7.5 million on a one-year deal. Of course, he was disgruntled with his contract — presumably a big reason why he was dealt.

ESPN’s Dan Graziano reported that the Falcons do not currently have a new contract in place for Judon but the two sides plan to work on one prior to the start of the season. That seems like a dangerous game to play given what’s happening with Haason Reddick — who is holding out of Jets camp and has demanded a trade — though Graziano added that he did not anticipate this being a similar situation to the one the Jets have faced since trading for Reddick. Still, Judon has leverage.

It’s also worth mentioning this is a problem of the Falcons’ own making. I mentioned that this team is set up to win now and made this trade because of that. But they’re also making this trade because they seemingly forgot about their timeline during the first round of the NFL draft and selected another quarterback (Michael Penix Jr.) with the No. 8 pick when they could have landed any pass rusher they wanted (no defensive players were selected until the No. 15 pick) or a wide receiver such as Rome Odunze, who was picked right after Penix.

They also could have made a move earlier in the offseason. Speaking of Reddick, he would have been a better, healthier and younger option! Reddick was dealt to the Jets in March for similar draft compensation, though he would have cost more money, forcing the Falcons to have to effectively borrow from 2026’s cap. Chase Young would have been an option in free agency, too.

All that being said, on Wednesday morning the Falcons were a team trying to win immediately but needing a player (or two) who can get to the quarterback. With this trade, they (probably) have one now.

This is more than palatable for the Patriots. Yes, it makes the defense worse right now. Players such as Joshua Uche (I’m still a believer), Keion White, Deatrich Wise Jr. and Anfernee Jennings will have to assume larger roles. But that’s fine for where the Patriots are.

New England seems cognizant of its current status as a rebuilding noncontender with an offense that wouldn’t be good enough to contend even if rookie quarterback Drake Maye hits right away. For a team like that, it is better to not pay a 32-year-old player coming off an injury and to turn him into a future draft asset instead of simply winding down the clock on Judon’s time as a Patriot.