Report: Another Big Contract Change For Tom Brady

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady just grabbed our attention with the latest info about his contract.

First, it was the incentives, and now we get to learn about other contract changes, too. ESPN’s Field Yates was the first to report about Brady’s reworked contract. His deal converts $10 million of his regular $14 million salary into a signing bonus which gives him the cash now and spreads the ensuing cap hit over the final couple of years of his deal. This means that the $22 million cap number will drop by $5 million for 2018.

“Tom Brady’s cap number is still $22M for 2018, while his cap number for 2019 has jumped by $5M to $27M. Brady gets the shot to (very likely) earn $5M in extra money, the team preserves its 2018 cap flexibility,” Field Yates tweeted.

Tom Brady’s cap number is still $22M for 2018, while his cap number for 2019 has jumped by $5M to $27M. Brady gets the shot to (very likely) earn $5M in extra money, the team preserves its 2018 cap flexibility. https://t.co/R7hg8VoLel

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) August 11, 2018

“Source: as part of his reworked deal, Tom Brady had $10M of his $14M base salary converted into a signing bonus. That means Brady gets $10M guaranteed now, while his cap number for this year will not increase at all as part of the new deal.”

The potential incentive payments count immediately, and will be classified as “likely to be earned,” based on the theory that Brady achieved every milestone last year that he needs to get to this year, as Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio said.

New England will get cap relief next year if the quarterback doesn’t earn some or all the money. Bonuses drop the cap number by $5 million, and the incentives boost it with $5 million. Get the logic?

Brady’s cap number for 2019 went as high as $27 million, thanks to his bonus.

Yes, Brady is doing just fine at the field, and there’s no reason for him to retire any time now. He’s brilliant.