Tom Brady turned 42 yesterday, but there’s no sign he plans on retiring any time soon. That’s good news for, Patriots fans, and anyone who can objectively appreciate Brady’s on-field play without having that appreciation clouded by all of the attendant problematic Tom Brady/Patriot things that come along with it.
So, Patriots fans, basically.
In any case, Brady reworked his contract, extending it through 2021, a season he’ll play at age 44 if he does indeed continue playing:
The #Patriots and QB Tom Brady have agreed to terms on a contract extension, source said. No details yet, but sounds like it’s a short term deal, as you’d expect.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 4, 2019
If you’re wondering why it would get done now, the answer involves the usual salary cap reasons:
Tom Brady’s two-year extension takes him through the 2021 season, but the deal will be adjusted each year he continues playing, per source. It will pay him $23 million this season – an $8 million boost over what he was scheduled to make.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 4, 2019
While Brady’s actual earnings will go up this year, it will likely coincide with a drop in how much his deal counts against the salary cap. Could you argue that with a player this close to retirement, leveraging extensions in a way to aid the team’s cap situation while knowing that the likelihood that all of the deal will be paid out is slim (or at least that it won’t finish without another restructuring) is a very, very Patriots thing to do? Yes, absolutely.
But why expect anything else?
