Patriots pick the Falcons to have a worse record than the Bears

The Atlanta Falcons pulled off a big trade by acquiring pass rusher Matthew Judon from the New England Patriots for a third-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. It was a massive need for a team that expects to make the postseason but they reportedly came close to not landing him.

According to reports that surfaced following the trade, the Patriots had their choice of a third-round pick from the Falcons or a third-round pick from the Bears. They obviously went with the latter which signals they think Chicago will finish with a better record than Atlanta. It is interesting, to say the least.

Patriots believe the Bears will be a better team than the Falcons in 2024

The Atlanta Falcons have sky-high hopes for themselves and, for the most part, the media does too. They finally have a quarterback, a competent playcaller, and a head coach that will get the most out of his defense.

However, that doesn't mean everyone believes in them and if recent rumors are true, the Patriots are among the non-believers.

New England reportedly had interest from the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans for Matt Judon. From what we have learned, the Bears and Falcons offered the same third-round pick, so Eliot Wolf and the Patriots had to ask themselves one thing: who will lose more games in 2024?

Their answer was the Falcons, which is certainly strange.

Yes, the Bears' defense was outstanding late last season and they landed a generational quarterback in Caleb Williams. However, the Falcons were a quarterback away from being a playoff team in 2023 and now they have that quarterback. I may be biased but I would put my eggs in the basket of the team led by a quarterback who has a rich history of winning NFL games.

Then consider that the Falcons have the easiest schedule and play in a favorable NFC South. The Bears will have to compete with the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions in the NFC North, not exactly easy.

While I think the Bears will be a good team in 2024, I find it hard to believe they will win more games with a rookie quarterback in that powerhouse division than the Falcons will.

However, we shouldn't be complaining because if the Patriots saw things differently, we wouldn't have Matthew Judon screaming off the edge in the coming months.

There is also the potential that the Patriots saw the two teams as a coin flip and opted to send their Pro Bowl player to the team that isn't on their 2024 schedule. After all, nothing looks worse than getting dominated by a player you traded away.