FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — For his second straight offseason with the New England Patriots, linebacker Matt Judon has kept up a side hustle of sorts as the team’s self-appointed recruiter.
Judon’s free agent target this time around is three-time All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins. He is taking visits with potential suitors after Arizona released the five-time Pro Bowler in a salary cap move May 26 when it couldn’t find a trade partner this offseason.
The Cardinals cut Hopkins three seasons after acquiring him in a blockbuster trade in 2020 with Houston and had signed him to a $54.5 million contract extension through 2024.
After seeing a Twitter user pledge to donate $500 to a charity of Hopkins’ choosing to woo him, Judon chimed in.
“I’ll match, @DeAndreHopkins,” Judon tweeted.
But following the Patriots’ second minicamp practice on Tuesday, Judon downplayed his latest foray into trying to lure players to New England.
“You’ve seen all you’re going to get. I don’t run my Twitter, so I don’t know who be tweeting most of the time,” Judon said, smiling.
Past targets of Judon’s Twitter pitches have included players on both sides of the ball, from receivers such as Odell Beckham Jr. and Allen Robinson, to linebacker Bobby Wagner and former Patriots players such as edge rusher Chandler Jones.
He’s yet to show success for his creative social media work. It hasn’t stopped him from trying. Pressed on whether he had any personal relationship with Hopkins that might help the team land the receiver, Judon said his focus was on the players currently on the roster.
“DeAndre Hopkins is a free agent. If I know him as a friend or as a confidant it doesn’t matter,” Judon said. “He’s a great player. He did amazing things and wherever he lands, he lands. If it’s here, it’s here. Then we can talk about him.”
Hopkins has already visited the Tennessee Titans and Patriots coach Bill Belichick confirmed on Monday that the team has at least spoken with Hopkins, saying the team is “working through” setting up a possible visit to its facility in Foxborough.
JETS: The New York Jets signed former Green Bay Packers safety Adrian Amos to a one-year deal Tuesday.
The 30-year-old Amos gives the Jets’ secondary more veteran experience and becomes the latest former Packers player to head to New York, including quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The deal is reportedly worth as much as $4 million.
RAVENS: Odell Beckham Jr., the 30-year-old former All-Pro who missed all of last season with the second major knee injury of his career, was back at the team facility for the first time since signing as a free agent in April and took part in his first meaningful football action in nearly 500 days.
He torn an ACL in Super Bowl 56 while with the Rams. It’s no wonder, then, that the simple act of slipping on a jersey for the start of a mandatory three-day minicamp Tuesday at the team’s facility in Owings Mills struck him as a “meaningful” moment.
“I’ve been trying to not think about it because there’s been so many disappointments,” Beckham said. “I’ve been in a good mental head space to where I’ve tried to downplay this, but I think I’ll be excited to put a jersey on and go out and do the thing you’ve done your whole life.”
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