How much has Brady been underpaid?

[BobDigital]

So a post today made me think it was time to do some research into Brady's contract history and compare him to other top QBs.

I tried to find QBs of similar skill and career arch so the only 2 I could really choose were Brees and Peyton Manning. Another issue with this is trying to find cap numbers. Brady's are easy enough to find thanks to Miguel's work but the others are much more difficult. In fact I was missing a few years so I was forced to take another tact.

I used the site Spotract to track total cash earnings of Brady, Manning & Brees over their careers.

Now the issue with doing it this way is they have played a different number of years and the rookies deals offered a big discrepancy. Also I could not just pick a year and start there cause the signing date is the single biggest number in cash earnings and I would either have to include rookie deal years for some players or miss the signing bonus for others. So what I settled on (and this was imperfect but the best way I could figure) is go from the first major contract after the rookie deals for each player on.

For Manning this is 2004 on
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/denver-broncos/peyton-manning/cash-earnings/

For Brady this is 2005 on
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/new-england-patriots/tom-brady/cash-earnings/
(Brady got a minor extension and 2002 but I choose to ignore it as it would be unfair I thought and skew the numbers too much in his favor)

For Brees it was 2006 on
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/new-orleans-saints/drew-brees/cash-earnings/

After this I subtract the early rookie deal year numbers from total earnings and divided by total years for each player after that point to get an average after the first big contract.

Here are the numbers

Manning from 2004 on made 16.58 per year in cash earnings
Brady from 2005 on made 13.08 per year in cash earnings
Brees from 2006 on made 13.15 per year in cash earnings.

Brady made 78.9% of what Manning made post rookie deals.
Brady made 99.4% of what Brees made post rookie deals.

If you average Brees and Manning's numbers together Brady made 88% of what a other QBs of his caliber have made over that same time frame.

This tells me over his post rookie career Brady has taken a 12% pay cut if you want to go by the way I did it. You can also argue he should have made more than Brees or Manning if you want meaning his pay cut could perhaps even be considered bigger than that.

Now I know this way of looking at it is not perfect and welcome other ways of viewing his contract viewed against others. I think we can all agree however he has been quite a steal.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

If you have a spreadsheet where you figured this out please post and we can review. Thanks!

 

[BobDigital]

If you have a spreadsheet where you figured this out please post and we can review. Thanks!

I don't how how to post a spread sheet here but I can tell you the details

Brady 149.80 (est) - 19.03 (est) = 130.77/10 years = 13.08 (est)
Manning 229.73(est) - 47.32 (est) = 182.41/11 years = 16.58 (est)
Brees 131.46 (est) - 13.11 (est) = 118.35/9 years = 13.15 (est) - made a boo boo here. I did 131.46/9. Whoops. Need to change numbers now 1 sec

Edit: So actually Brees and Brady are pretty close currently. It is worth nothing though that Brees if he plays for his current 2015 number will his total average will go up at he has a 18.750M salary along with other money. So while it is close now this time next year it will be a bigger difference.

 

[BobDigital]

It is also worth noting I made the general statement Brady has taken about a 20% pay cut in another thread. Looking at this you could argue it is closer to 10% or just comparing him to his closest contemporary Peyton Manning you could say that is fair. Of course you could also just question the whole way of doing it which is fair enough. I wish I had straight cap hits for all these players the last 9 years. I think that would better.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

Or you could take the opposite view and say Manning was overpaid by 12% - 50% depending on how much you think constant choking is worth.

 

[jmt57]

I find the title to this thread to be misleading.

Brady has not taken any pay cuts.

As @convertedpatsfan noted, the better question should be: has Brady been underpaid, or has Manning been overpaid?

With a genuine salary cap in the NFL, for every additional dollar one player makes, that is one less dollar available to be spent on his teammates and the rest of the roster.

 

[hwc]

Of course Manning has been paid more. He has had better stats!

 

[Danger Zone]

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on...-should-know-about-tom-bradys-unique-contract

2013 contract extension need to know

Brady had completed two years of a four-year, $72 million extension that made him the NFL's highest paid player (by average yearly salary) at signing in 2010 when he took a big hometown discount during a 2013 offseason renegotiation. He freed up $8 million and $7 million of salary cap room for the Patriots in 2013 and 2014 by lowering his cap numbers those years to $13.8 million and $14.8 million.

Depending upon how it's characterized, Brady signed a five-year, $57 million deal or a three-year, $27 million extension (the value of his new contract years). Either way, it was substantially less than his market value. He received $33 million, which was fully guaranteed, in the first two years of the new deal instead of the $30 million he was scheduled to make in the remaining two years of his old contract. He had $30 million of the guaranteed money in a signing bonus with a significant portion deferred. Brady received $10 million of his signing bonus in 2013, $15 million in 2014 and the remaining $5 million is payable on Feb. 15.

The final three years of Brady's pact (2015 through 2017) for $24 million were guaranteed for injury at signing. These years also became guaranteed for skill (without an offset) by him being on New England's roster for the final game of the 2014 regular season.

2014 renegotiation need to know

Right after the 2014 regular season ended, Brady gave up the skill guarantee of his $7 million, $8 million and $9 million base salaries in 2015, 2016 and 2017. In exchange, $1 million was added to each of his base salaries for these years. Since there is only an injury guarantee left in each of the remaining years of his contract, the Patriots aren't required to fund his guarantees. According to league rules, a team must place into an escrow account the amount of any skill guarantees in a contract. The change in Brady's contract gives the Patriots use of $24 million that wouldn't be available otherwise because of the funding requirement.

Brady's contract maneuver only frees up cash, not salary cap space. In fact, Brady's 2015, 2016 and 2017 cap numbers go from $13 million, $14 million and $15 million respectively to $14 million, $15 million and $16 million because of his modest salary increase.

NFL front office executives I spoke to, most of whom negotiate contracts for their respective teams, were surprised by Brady's move. "I've never heard of a player voluntarily giving up guaranteed money, especially for so little in return," one AFC team executive said. "I could have possibly seen him doing it if the Patriots had given him a way to void out of the deal. I would have been shocked if he [Brady] agreed to let the skill guarantees kick in on a specific date each year like the 49ers do. The funding issue could have still been avoided that way too."

Guarantees in practically all of San Francisco's lucrative contracts are injury guarantees, which typically become fully guaranteed on April 1 of each specific contract year (i.e.; 2015 base salary becomes guaranteed on April 1, 2015). The team executives also were skeptical of Patriots owner Robert Kraft's cash flow being so poor that getting the $24 million was essential.

Brady reworking his deal also makes it much easier for the Patriots to release him provided he stays healthy. Guarantees from future contract years accelerate into the current year's salary cap when a player is released. For example, if the Patriots cut Brady after June 1 or using a post-June 1 designation this year with the skill guarantee still intact under his 2013 renegotiation, then the Patriots would have had $30 million in dead money, which is a cap charge for a player no longer on a team's roster. The $30 million in dead money would have consisted of $6 million in signing bonus proration and $24 million from his 2015 through 2017 base salary guarantees. There also would have been a $12 million cap charge in 2016 from his 2016 and 2017 signing-bonus proration. Once the skill guarantees were removed, the Patriots only have $6 million in dead money in 2015 for releasing a healthy Brady after June 1 and the same $12 million cap charge in 2016 as with the skill-guarantee scenario.

Note: If this is too much to quote (though only a small portion of the article) either let me know or perhaps delete the quote about the 2014 Need to Know.

 

[Danger Zone]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2...s-know-that/LlkDXpi9zt6wTM9XmBE23J/story.html

Brady’s current contract ranks him 17th among NFL quarterbacks in average annual value. QB luminaries such as Andy Dalton, Alex Smith, Carson Palmer and Jay Cutler — combined playoff wins equal two — rank ahead of Saint Thomas of San Mateo.

Now that Brady has played out the first two years of his front-loaded contract and renegotiated already this year to do the Patriots a favor, I think its fair to say that he plans on honoring this current contract.

 

[BobDigital]

I find the title to this thread to be misleading.

Brady has not taken any pay cuts.

As @convertedpatsfan noted, the better question should be: has Brady been underpaid, or has Manning been overpaid?

With a genuine salary cap in the NFL, for every additional dollar one player makes, that is one less dollar available to be spent on his teammates and the rest of the roster.

Okay. If you feel that is more appropriate and accurate I can change the title.

Edit: Also I firmly believe Brady has been underpaid as opposed to Manning being over paid.

Manning while not winning more than 1 title often has had teams with enough talent to be competitive and make the playoffs year after year. I think he is well worth the money he is getting paid. Just cause he is not Brady does not mean he is not worth every cent he is getting.

 

[OhExaulted1]

Well it's definately had an effect since he can't afford razors and he's obviously been buying his wardrobes at Goodwill.

 

[jmt57]

Okay. If you feel that is more appropriate and accurate I can change the title.

Edit: Also I firmly believe Brady has been underpaid as opposed to Manning being over paid.

Manning while not winning more than 1 title often has had teams with enough talent to be competitive and make the playoffs year after year. I think he is well worth the money he is getting paid. Just cause he is not Brady does not mean he is not worth every cent he is getting.

Let's look at the current 2015 season.

Brady has an $8,000,000 salary plus a $6,000,000 prorated signing bonus.

Rather than a cap figure of $14,000,000, let's say he should be paid $20,000,000.

That adds $6,000,000 to Brady's income - and $6,000,000 to the cap.

That leaves the Patriots less than $250k under the salary cap. Not exactly a good position to be in to sign rookies, undrafted free agents, and leave maneuverability for in-season additions (like Jonathan Casillas and Akeem Ayers) to replace injured players.

Perhaps Brady realizes that it is in his best interest to take a reasonable deal that still allows him and his children to live comfortably for the rest of their lives, in order to attempt to quench his competitive thirst for another championship.

 

[YOUGOTMOSSED]

I guess when you have a sugar mamma with a 9 figure net worth, you can make some sacrifices. Seriously, at this point, why can he just play for the veteran minimum and give us mad cap space?

GISELE BUNDCHEN NET WORTH-$320 MILLION
http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/models/gisele-bundchen-net-worth/

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

The way I see it, effectively wealthy TFB is using his discretionary income, the millions he forgoed (yeah, it's not a word) to buy something he wants, Championships. In my world that's a great use of $, buying something priceless.

 

[Jlaff]

I wonder how the next contract plays out. Basically just ask Tom what he wants to be paid and put the ball in his court?

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

"I'll take 51% of the Patriots, Mr Kraft."

 

[Guts]

I guess when you have a sugar mamma with a 9 figure net worth, you can make some sacrifices. Seriously, at this point, why can he just play for the veteran minimum and give us mad cap space?

GISELE BUNDCHEN NET WORTH-$320 MILLION
http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/models/gisele-bundchen-net-worth/

The players union wouldn't let him I think

 

[AzorianPats]

The players union wouldn't let him I think

Fortunately for Pats fans, Brady really isn't a union guy. Not that he'll play for the vet minimum though.

Not to say money isn't important to the GOAT, but Brady makes his money in other ways. He's got excellent endorsement deals with Under Armour and UGG's, he'll be doing guest appearances in movies, and him and Giselle are successful in flipping houses.

Being the highest paid QB/player in the league isn't important to him. Being part of a championship contending team, while being compensated fairly is.

 

[AzorianPats]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveschaefer/2010/11/08/tom-brady-under-armour-shareholder/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/sportsm...r-deal-to-include-equity-stake-why-dont-more/

 

[IllegalContact]

I look at it differently

he has been overpaid by a smaller amount