You can post it as many times as you want but it is completely irrelevant to the point I am making. I don't think you understand that what I am proposing is a restructuring of Brady's contract, not simply keeping him here under the same deal.
My statement remains 100% true. The Patriots could have structured a new deal with Brady such that his 2020 cap hit would go down from what it ended up being. An example would be a 5 year deal with a $24 million signing bonus, vet minimum year 1 salary, with a fully guaranteed year 2 salary in the range of $20 to $25 million or so (then 3 voidable years or maybe even a club option for year 3). If they signed it before March 18, that would have resulted in a lower 2020 cap hit for Brady than they ended up actually swallowing.
(Another option would have been to give him a higher signing bonus, say $35 million, then vet minimum for year 1 and a much lower year 2 salary - say, around $10 million. That would increase the Year 1 cap hit a bit but lower year 2's hit.)
Now, you could certainly argue the above contract would just be kicking the can further down the road and would create a worse cap situation in the future, and you would probably be right. But my thesis fully stands: They could have kept Brady with a lower 2020 cap number than what they ended up swallowing.