Peter King on the Underpaid Tom Brady "Taking Notes"

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

His wife makes 35 million a year. I hardly doubt he cares.

For many professional athletes the actual dollars don't matter as much as the pride. We as a society measure ones worth by the size of the paycheck to a great measure. There is a certain measure of pride that comes from being the highest paid quarterback, cornerback, pitcher, etc.

I don't know if this as personally happened to you, but it does happen quite a bit. You have a job and are content with what you are being paid (of course you would prefer to make more, but you are okay with what your are making) then you find out a coworker that you feel is less competentant and has been working there less time is make 5-10% more than you and your now pissed that you are underpaid. Did your paycheck go down? No, but you are upset because someone who does less than you is making more than you. It is a pride thing. Maybe not for you personally, but for most people absolutely.

 

[feldspar]

Father's Day book suggestions, plus Brett Favre, Tom Brady, more - Peter King - SI.com

The thesis seems to be that the Donovan McNabbs of the world are making much more than him this year, so he and his agent are "taking notes." They're doing it quietly, of course, and saying all the right things... maybe because of the signing bonus early in the deal? I dunno, but Brady only gets 5M salary this year, so they're "taking notes."

With all the money Brady is making from the Patriots, he gets about $10 million a year; he signed a six-year deal worth almost $60 million. You have to understand that not all the money a player gets is NOT in his salary, such as bonuses. Don't forget about all that playoff and Super Bowl money, either, with all the props that go along with it.

Over the first three years of (Brady's) contract, a measuring stick that is often used now by many agents and teams to gauge comparative value, the deal averages $13.111 million.

Brady now among the NFL's highest-paid players - NFL - ESPN

The really irritating thing is that Matthew Stafford just signed a contract with the Lions that is bigger than Tom Brady's. He signed a six-year $72 million (at least) contract with $41.7 million guaranteed. Somebody needs to put a lid on these outrageous high-pick rookie contracts. Picking #1 overall is a curse...Stafford could end up sucking the big one. With all that guaranteed money, the Lions are tethered to Stafford for at least four years. If he sucks, they'll cut him after four years and get nothing for him...nobody is going to pick up that monster contract.

The point is that I'll bet my right nut that Stafford won't be nearly as good as Brady, not even close...especially on such a God-awful team. Yet he is making more money than Tom Brady before even taking one NFL snap.

But Brady ain't hurting for money, and I doubt he is upset about what anyone else is getting. Brady is filthy, stinking rich from what he gets from football alone, but I'm sure he is making millions more in other avenues. I don't see the Patriots offering up more money. What's he going to do, demand a raise or to be traded? I don't think so. The success that he sees, with the endorsements that go along with that, would likely go down considerably on a different team. I just don't see Brady making waves, epecially after being out an entire season with an injury that will require him to wear a knee brace for who knows how long.

As far as an uncapped year goes, what some people don't seem to understand is that, while there is no ceiling on what money players can get, there is no floor either. It'll be crazy, and it won't work for long before the system breaks down IMO. There'd be a strike or a holdout.

 

[fair catch fryar]

Tom Brady is the one of the only players on the Pats and the league for that matter that is worth his weight in gold. When the time comes, I believe he'll ask for fair market value, no more...no less.

 

[rayyu882]

I think Brady will only ask for a better contract if the Pats can afford it. If the Pats have cap issues, to me Brady will make room in the cap as long as he can still compete and win.

If I'm Brady and my wife is worth 150 millions, I won't care how much the Pats pay me as long as I can still play and win games.

 

[Synovia]

Brady...signed a six-year deal worth almost $60 million.

Stafford... signed a six-year $72 million (at least) contract with $41.7 million guaranteed. Somebody needs to put a lid on these outrageous high-pick rookie contracts.

Its been what, 4 years now? $60M 4 years ago is a lot more money than $72M now. The cap has expanded 50%.

 

[JoeSixPat]

No need to worry. Brady will be takin care of. Though, does it matter? His wife made 30 mil last year

Gotta wonder if that's going to be a factor for Brady... i.e. while Brady's not all about money, society does equate one's worth with how much money they make.... and while he'll never earn as much as her he might want to be valued as the top QB in the game.

If I watched a co worker do a lesser job and get paid more that would begin to eat at me after awhile - recognizing that these $10 and $20 million players are in a different stratosphere, the psychology is still the same.

Brady's agent gets paid based on what Brady earns, so you can bet he's going to do his part to stoke those competive flames

 

[captain stone]

Peter King has become a former shell of himself. While he used to be pretty good, he's now content to create stories based on speculation and omission. How can any responsible journalist say that Brady is "only making 5 $Million this year" and not take into consideration the reasons why (his enormous up front payment on the contract is extremely relevant to this story) he is only making $5 million?
Its just bored, lazy journalism.

This is the definitive post in response to yet another piece of garbage by Peter Queen. I haven't clicked a byline of his since Cameragate, and have no intention of doing so in the future.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I have no idea what Tom Brady will do. I've never met the man. I don't know him other than through the millions of words that are written and spoken about him. What I do know, however, is that Tom Brady is the kind of guy on whom people tend to project their own fantasies and ideals.

Here's what I think:

One, Tom Brady owes neither the Patriots' organization nor us, its fans, one single cent; nada; zip, zero, zilch, nothing. He could sit out the rest of his contract without throwing a pass, without generating a TD, and still have earned every single dime that the Krafts will have paid him.

Two, I hope that Tom Brady will finish his career with the Pats and I also hope that he'll decide that the benefits of playing for Belichick and his "system" outweigh whatever extra dollars he might earn somewhere else.

Three, I don't think it matters a dam what Gisele is making or what TB earns in endorsements. The bottom line is that he should be compensated for his on the field play for what it is worth.....and, that is going to be a very big number for the rest of his career, assuming he returns at his prior level of performance.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

My only real response is: okie dokie. He'll write a column when contracts come up with backloaded years, and say all that counts is guaranteed money. Now it's th back end of a front-loaded contract -- the good kind -- and he's speculating that Brady's not happy to be in the "out years." Then there were the columns out about how the Pats were Brady-toploaded when he signed his deal. Blah blah blah. You get the idea. Now it's the tail end of the contract, after a couple of $14M cap years back to back, and we hear about his salary???

Come on now.

PFnV

 

[MoLewisrocks]

First off, for those who tend to become a little cavalier where Brady is concerned, just a cautionary note that the Patriots are lucky Brady is more competitive and motivated by legacy than bank account. Secondly they are lucky he doesn't insult easily given the at times awkward way in which they tend to handle the business end of football where their players are concerned.

Some here are pointing to the enormous bonus Tom got as somehow mitigating things King implied. It really doesn't. They all get bonuses. Tom took $8M less up front than Manning who signed his deal a year earlier (his deal was 7 years $98M or a $13M average with $34.5M in signing bonus and he's in year 6...). At the end of the day the truth is 5 years into a deal set to average $10M per over 6 years with $26.5M in signing and option bonus (3 year measures while the gold standard of measurement when a deal is signed become meaningless once you are further into the deal - although Manning got $46M while Tom saw $37.5M) Tom is not even in the top 5 any more. Rookies have surpassed him. McPuke has surpassed him. Eli will shortly as well, and Eli got $20M up front on a $50M rookie deal...and Peyton is also up after 2010 (8th and 9th years at $14M per are voidable) and given he's the whole enchilada in Indy he will likely reset the bar...yet again some time in 2010. Probably north of $15M AAV which is what Eli (and Condon who represents them both) is rumored to be looking at.

This team ideally wants their QB to take up no more than 10-12% of their cap.
Brady was smart enough to see the logic in that rationale - he wants a winning team surrounding him more than he wants to be the nhighest paid guy in the lague. The cap is now up to $128M. When he redid his deal it was around $100M. When he does his next deal he will be beyond reasonable to expect $13M+ as an average. That's been Mannings average since 2004. And if it's another 6 year extension he should get close to half in signing/option bonus in the first two years or a little more than half guaranteed and in his hand within the first three. So if you hear things like Brady wants $40M guaranteed or in bonus money this time around, please don't freak out and think he's asking for top dollar. That will only barely put him back in the top 5.

He's a good soldier, but he's not their whipping boy. He sets the tone by taking less, but teamates don't listen to doormats, either. Don't expect a deal for him this year either, but all that will indicate is how hard it is to do a cap friendly extension under an expiring CBA with amortization and salary restrictions for a guy who has $10M of amortization still working it's way off the cap in 2009-2010 (in part because he let them rework his deal a couple of times to free up cap when they desperately needed it...).

 

[PatsFanSince74]

First off, for those who tend to become a little cavalier where Brady is concerned, just a cautionary note that the Patriots are lucky Brady is more competitive and motivated by legacy than bank account. Secondly they are lucky he doesn't insult easily given the at times awkward way in which they tend to handle the business end of football where their players are concerned.

Some here are pointing to the enormous bonus Tom got as somehow mitigating things King implied. It really doesn't. They all get bonuses. Tom took $8M less up front than Manning who signed his deal a year earlier (his deal was 7 years $98M or a $13M average with $34.5M in signing bonus and he's in year 6...). At the end of the day the truth is 5 years into a deal set to average $10M per over 6 years with $26.5M in signing and option bonus (3 year measures while the gold standard of measurement when a deal is signed become meaningless once you are further into the deal - although Manning got $46M while Tom saw $37.5M) Tom is not even in the top 5 any more. Rookies have surpassed him. McPuke has surpassed him. Eli will shortly as well, and Eli got $20M up front on a $50M rookie deal...and Peyton is also up after 2010 (8th and 9th years at $14M per are voidable) and given he's the whole enchilada in Indy he will likely reset the bar...yet again some time in 2010. Probably north of $15M AAV which is what Eli (and Condon who represents them both) is rumored to be looking at.

This team ideally wants their QB to take up no more than 10-12% of their cap.
Brady was smart enough to see the logic in that rationale - he wants a winning team surrounding him more than he wants to be the nhighest paid guy in the lague. The cap is now up to $128M. When he redid his deal it was around $100M. When he does his next deal he will be beyond reasonable to expect $13M+ as an average. That's been Mannings average since 2004. And if it's another 6 year extension he should get close to half in signing/option bonus in the first two years or a little more than half guaranteed and in his hand within the first three. So if you hear things like Brady wants $40M guaranteed or in bonus money this time around, please don't freak out and think he's asking for top dollar. That will only barely put him back in the top 5.

He's a good soldier, but he's not their whipping boy. He sets the tone by taking less, but teamates don't listen to doormats, either. Don't expect a deal for him this year either, but all that will indicate is how hard it is to do a cap friendly extension under an expiring CBA with amortization and salary restrictions for a guy who has $10M of amortization still working it's way off the cap in 2009-2010 (in part because he let them rework his deal a couple of times to free up cap when they desperately needed it...).

Very well said. I gave my own opinion above (#28 on page three in this thread). As I said in my comment, I hope that he'll conclude that it's a good thing to take a few dollars less from a rational owner like Kraft than he might get elsewhere (e.g., from a franchise desperate to improve its gate and marketing or from a big spender like Daniel "Six Flags" Snyder).

But, Tom Brady has already "given at the office." Five AFCCG's, Four SB's and three rings. He's already delivered the stuff of legends. He had a career threatening injury last year and he's moving into the last of his prime years as a QB. The money you suggest is reasonable and I wouldn't be surprised if he asks for it...and gets it...from the Krafts. He more than deserves every dollar. If he can't get it here and goes elsewhere, more power to him.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Brady has lived up to his end of the bargain. BB, Kraft and the rest of the team not always.

Wrong. The Patriots pay to the cap each year. They attempt to spend the money as wisely as they can. How can you say that they are not living up to their end of the bargain?

 

[feldspar]

Its been what, 4 years now? $60M 4 years ago is a lot more money than $72M now. The cap has expanded 50%.

Cap-land isn't the real world, though, as we know. 4 years isn't enough time for inflation to rise very much. Stafford got more money than Brady: that's the bottom line...all talks about the nature of the salary cap aside. I can't see how anyone can consider that anything short of ridiculous. The cap is out of control, especially with high-picked rookies, and something drastic has to happen with it soon. Ralph Wilson was one of two owners that wouldn't sign the current colletive bargaining agreement...they laughed at him and called him senile, but he was right. Now there is a big problem.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Wrong. The Patriots pay to the cap each year. They attempt to spend the money as wisely as they can. How can you say that they are not living up to their end of the bargain?

I don't know specifically what the other poster was referring to, but he might be thinking about the Pats' getting rid of TB's top two receivers in the season immediately after he signed what most regard as a discounted contract. The Pats more than made up for that with the addition of Moss and Welker two years later, but it was an open secret that Brady wasn't happy with what had happened.

As for the Pats "pay[ing] to the cap," that's indisputable. But, Brady has been just as clear in his statements over the past two or three years that he understands that the NFL is a "business." I said in an earlier post that I hope and believe that Tommy will stay with the Pats for a little less than he might get from an owner desperate to raise the profile of his franchise or from a free-spending owner like Snyder. But, if he can't get a number that is consistent with what he brings to the team and that is also consistent with what lesser players are receiving, I certainly won't blame him for walking.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

I don't know specifically what the other poster was referring to, but he might be thinking about the Pats' getting rid of TB's top two receivers in the season immediately after he signed what most regard as a discounted contract. The Pats more than made up for that with the addition of Moss and Welker two years later, but it was an open secret that Brady wasn't happy with what had happened.

That and in general, the Pats appear more willing to spend extra money on defense more than offense. If I was TB I might be willing to play for a little less so the Pats could keep or sign a better left tackle. I would not be willing to play for a little less to keep or sign a better nose tackle.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

If I'm Brady, I accomodate the team, within reason. He's the face of a team, and it's a good team. I might not do this to be the face of KC for example. Maybe for a year or 2 but unless some rings come... well, you get it. I don't think he (or more importantly Don Yee) would get alll sentimental and play for peanuts. But I also think he's good w/the concept of renegoting the contract when it's time to renegotiate, by the terms of the contract. Not like as a religious stance or something, but b/c the majority of guys simply play out their deals. It's not everybody that says "I'm outperforming the deal", especially when the deal recognizes good performance in the first place -- this isn't his rookie deal we're talking about.

To the extent that his next contract deal will be written after the present deals (by necessity,) welp, maybe I do take notes. Yeah, he has a TV too. And Yee knows what guys are making. As we all acknowledge, it is indeed a business. There will come a day when Brady has to evaluate a deal from the Pats built on the idea that he's declining, but it wasn't the deal he's in now.

One interesting aspect of all this: What if Carson's right? That is, what if we have to look at the offseason before the '11 season, with Brady's stats down in '09 and rising, but not to previous levels, by '10? That's the scenario where I see Brady/Yee pushing that the trend is back to '07 form, and the Pats apply a cold, unsentimental eye on the situation and say they have to pay to '09-'10 performance... i.e., it becomes the usual question of who shoulders the risk that comes with an assumption of potential.

One would hope we don't see that scenario, and it's a matter of very minor manuevering between the parties on what to pay the face of the franchise. I think that's everybody's assumption right now, and KC is very happy that it is.

PFnV

 

[PatsFanSince74]

That and in general, the Pats appear more willing to spend extra money on defense more than offense. If I was TB I might be willing to play for a little less so the Pats could keep or sign a better left tackle. I would not be willing to play for a little less to keep or sign a better nose tackle.

we see this the same way.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

That and in general, the Pats appear more willing to spend extra money on defense more than offense. If I was TB I might be willing to play for a little less so the Pats could keep or sign a better left tackle. I would not be willing to play for a little less to keep or sign a better nose tackle.

The really unique thing about Tom is, he would be. He doesn't care how this team wins as long as it can win.

 

[BOSTN BEANER]

Brady will get his money.. theres no way BB lets Brady go anywhere, he will retire a patriot and have 5 or 6 superbowls when its all said and done..

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Brady will get his money.. theres no way BB lets Brady go anywhere, he will retire a patriot and have 5 or 6 superbowls when its all said and done..

From you lips to God's ears (and Welcome to the Board!).

But, as Reiss points out in this week's Mailbag, TB's not going to take substantially less than Market Value to do that. According to today's NY Daily News, the Maras are discussing a deal with Eli (Magic Helmet) Manning at $40 guaranteed and $14 or $15 a year. I doubt that Brady will stay with Pats for anything other than a little less than that, nor should he.