Tom Brady Restructures Contract - shifts $24 million

[Brady_to_Moss]

I agree.

Also, I'd love to be part of this forum when the pats win a super bowl, I wasn't part of it for the first three and I feel a part of this community. We've been through so many lows and heartbreaks it's time !

Ya I wasn't here earlier...only in 07 I joined so I missed it as well. The lows lately have been rough no doubt. Ravens AFC champ game ect. But I have a good feeling about this team and the future they are building for themselves.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I love this for all the reasons that other posters have already noted. But, I especially love the timing, coming as it does the day after Woody Johnson has to call Bob Kraft to apologize that he wasn't trying to tamper with Revis. It makes the point that Woody is trying to fix a broken, sinking franchise while Kraft has the freedom to think three years ahead and free up cash to sign Revis to a three year deal.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

Unless there's more to the story, Brady is essentially risking up to $24 million, for an extra $3 million.

What risk?? If he's injured he gets his money. If he's not injured and he plays he gets his money and if the Patriots release him he'll hit the open market and make MORE money.
Either way Brady gets his money LIKE HE ALWAYS DOES.
Brady has never given back a dime to the organization......nor should he.
Enough with the silly Brady sainthood spin we read around here.

 

[Deus Irae]

What risk?? If he's injured he gets his money. If he's not injured and he plays he gets his money and if the Patriots release him he'll hit the open market and make MORE money.
Either way Brady gets his money LIKE HE ALWAYS DOES.
Brady has never given back a dime to the organization......nor should he.
Enough with the silly Brady sainthood spin we read around here.

The terms are the terms. If he gets cut, he loses $24 million. Don't be more ignorant than necessary.

 

[PP2]

Brady has never given back a dime to the organization......nor should he.

Brady has single-handedly turned the Patriots franchise into a billion-dollar empire, and the 3rd most valuable franchise in the NFL.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

The terms are the terms. If he gets cut, he loses $24 million. Don't be more ignorant than necessary.

If he gets cut teams are lining up to sign him for more than $24 million.
Don't be more naïve than necessary.
St. Thomas is not a fool.

 

[RobertWeathers]

That's all fair - but we're still on the hook for a considerable amount of dead money if we move on from Brady, what Miguel said would be the biggest dead hit in NFL history. I'd hardly call that great long term planning by BB if that's his plan.

Yep. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, Brady's cap number is a cumulative $42m. ($13m, $14m and $15m). If cut, the best year to do so is after the 2016 season as the team would save $9m and experience a manageable $6m cap hit.

At the end of the day, at this point in time the team thinks Brady will perform at a level next year and in 2016 that will be consistent with his cap number and salary.

What makes the most sense is Brady plays out his contract, where given his salaries, his play could decline and he'd still be good value. JG pans out as QB2 and is the cheap backup BB has had during his entire tenure. The ifs and buts besides that are fair game for fans to talk about, but I doubt BB entertains them too seriously. BB will deal with 2018 in 2016 at the earliest, not the 2014 draft.

I agree. If TB suffers a catastrophic injury and is done and they cut him, they can accelerate the cap hit and play Grapes at a reasonable salary.

 

[Brandon_Cox]

Grantland's Bill Barnwell explains it all here (didn't see this posted)

 

[BradyManny]

I agree. If TB suffers a catastrophic injury and is done and they cut him, they can accelerate the cap hit and play Grapes at a reasonable salary.

Exactly. I have nothing against Jimmy G - I just don't see how this situation is different than drafting O'Connell or Mallet. The fact that Tom Brady is older doesn't particularly make a difference when he's under contract for the length of time that he is. The Patriots have a QB1 under contract for about what a QB1 should cost, and a QB2 under contract for about what a QB2 should cost. If the QB2 outperforms the QB1, he will start, and the QB1's time will end. But the QB2 was not drafted so that the QB1 could be moved imminently.

 

[Oswlek]

Please give me an example where the Patriots have drafted a player with his second contract in mind.

I honestly have no idea what this question is even asking, it strikes me as being flawed and not really answerable. The simple fact is that JG was drafted to firm up a weakness (backup QB) and as a possible transition from Brady. However you want to parse the language when discussion contracts doesn't really change that, IMO.

 

[Big-T]

This is all too complicated for me to understand so could anyone help with this?

On the Grantland article it says the Pats can use the money for bonuses now...does that mean they could give McCourty (for example) an incentive laden deal?

 

[BradyManny]

I honestly have no idea what this question is even asking, it strikes me as being flawed and not really answerable. The simple fact is that JG was drafted to firm up a weakness (backup QB) and as a possible transition from Brady. However you want to parse the language when discussion contracts doesn't really change that, IMO.

Earlier you wrote:

Of course the Patriots have thought about how they would go about moving on from Brady, with JG's second contract being one of the possible scenarios.

I'm asking - was JG drafted so he could replace Brady on JG's second contract? I'm simply saying I have yet to see an example where the Patriots drafted five years in advance of their proposed use, nor have they been drafted under the assumption they could be retained after their rookie deal was up. The way fans & media are talking, BB drafted JG here to be the "QB of the future," when I don't think that future extends beyond the length of a player's contract.

I agree JG was drafted to shore up backup QB. The possible transition from Brady is overstated. It is no more or less likely than it was with Mallet/O'Connell.

 

[RobertWeathers]

The fact that Tom Brady is older doesn't particularly make a difference when he's under contract for the length of time that he is

Agreed. It doesn't make a difference in the present tense but I suspect that you would agree that current and future age/projected performance were variables taken hevily into account when structuring the current deal.

 

[Gronkandez]

This is all too complicated for me to understand so could anyone help with this?

On the Grantland article it says the Pats can use the money for bonuses now...does that mean they could give McCourty (for example) an incentive laden deal?

Here are the Cliff Notes:
The Pats no longer have to put $24M is escrow for Brady's fully gtd deal. This doesn't mean they are now able to give more money to other players. Kraft is worth $4B and they aren't gaining any cap space. It just helps their cash flow. They can invest that money in other operations and make a killing off of it instead of getting little/no return while it's in Escrow.

Brady gets a miniscule extra $3M and supposedly has more say over where he gets traded if it were to come to that.

 

[Oswlek]

Grantland's Bill Barnwell explains it all here (didn't see this posted)

There are a lot of assumptions in here that are flawed or just plain wrong.

Under his old deal, Brady wouldn’t have been able to move on easily, because the Patriots would have been loath to pay the guaranteed money were they to release their longtime quarterback. They would have only gotten out from underneath the base salaries if Brady retired or if the team traded Brady.

Yes, and since no less than 20 teams would trade something for Brady - including every team that would have been willing to sign him as a free agent - this is a complete non issue.

Brady likely sees that and remembers the story of Logan Mankins, who went from being the starting guard on a Super Bowl–caliber team to serving as the starting guard on a 2-14 Buccaneers team that was out of the playoff race for three months. Or Richard Seymour, who was dispatched out of nowhere to a 5-11 Raiders team in 2009.

Spoken like a true Giant fan. Mankins and Seymour had acrimonious contact talks and strained relationships even after those were resolved. There is no way Brady would have been unceremoniously dumped on some barren wasteland of a team. If a trade were ever commenced, Tom almost certainly would have a lot of say in where he wants to go. And since every team willing to sign him would also be willing to trade for him, you are talking about the same collection of teams.

Rumors suggested that Brady was concerned about his future with the team in October.

Yes, rumors that have been thoroughly debunked.

Most importantly, though, Bill knows as well as anyone how much QBs command on the open market. Brady will have to drop off substantially to make him not worth his current contract. For god's sake, Alex Smith makes more than he does! Even if it were all guaranteed, Tom would be just as tradable as he is now, with the only exception being if he gets hurt which is still guaranteed under the restructure.

Stick with just the facts, Bill.

 

[BradyManny]

Agreed. It doesn't make a difference in the present tense but I suspect that you would agree that current and future age/projected performance were variables taken hevily into account when structuring the current deal.

Absolutely agree. I think Brady's contract is definitely geared towards accommodating a decline in play, leaving more money to put pieces around him. Even if his play declines 25% (not sure how to quantify that in terms of productivity, really, but we'll have to use our imagination), he will still be affordable and worth every penny for the length of his contract.

JG would have to outplay him and prove of more value than TB - which is no different than Mallet or O'Connell. There's nothing about JG that suggests he is more likely to do so, people simply point to Brady's age as a reason - which is nothing to do with JG.

In short, nothing has changed in terms of how BB approaches the QB position, yet we have to endure a higher percentage of people suggesting Brady will be replaced imminently than we have in the past.

 

[Oswlek]

The possible transition from Brady is overstated. It is no more or less likely than it was with Mallet/O'Connell.

It's significantly more likely than it was back then simply due to age. The "second contract" discrepancy isn't nearly as large as you are making it out to be. NE generally drafts back-up plans when a player gets older or has looming contract questions. The only difference is position since the up-and-comer at another position can still get on the field.

 

[BradyManny]

It's significantly more likely than it was back then simply due to age.

Only if his age were to diminish his performance significantly enough that JG would surpass him. He's under contract until 2017, which is - as I'm saying - as long-term as the Patriots are generally going to think, so the age does not factor in from that sense. Brady's been closer to FA than this before, and he's been marked as in decline before. The boring truth is that the situation really hasn't changed as much as people want to make it out to be.

 

[patchick]

The terms are the terms. If he gets cut, he loses $24 million.

Brady loses this amount:

$24M - (the amount another team pays for an aging but healthy Tom Brady)

That total loss may well be negative, or what we commonly call a "gain."

 

[Oswlek]

Only if his age were to diminish his performance significantly enough that JG would surpass him. He's under contract until 2017, which is - as I'm saying - as long-term as the Patriots are generally going to think, so the age does not factor in from that sense. Brady's been closer to FA than this before, and he's been marked as in decline before. The boring truth is that the situation really hasn't changed as much as people want to make it out to be.

Agreed, but the not-so-boring truth is that Tom is very likely to be done with football at the end of this contract, so the team is going to put themselves in as favorable a position as possible at that time.

Again, your "second contract" stipulation is only meaningful if all prior backup plans never got on the field. QB is an entirely different situation and warrants an entirely different course of action. There is no doubt that a JG was drafted to be the backup, but a good portion of the investment is the possibility of him being NE's next QB as well. The fact that it would require a second contract has more to do with NE wanting to get a head start on the transition. If JG fails, NE has plenty of time to move on to someone else.