The Secret Behind Patriots’ Structured Contract With Tom Brady

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and the New England Patriots reached an agreement regarding his contract with the team. The quarterback and New England agreed to re-work his contract last August. The final two years of Brady’s contract were added for salary cap purposes. They wanted to spread out the fully guaranteed signing bonus and lower the impact on the 2019 payroll, so Brady’s contract runs through 2021 but the two final years will void once the new league year begins in March. In other words, Brady will hit free agency in two months.

The current contract is structured in a way that allows the team and Brady to renegotiate or offer extend before the beginning of the free agency. Miguel Benzan from the Boston Sports Journal said it’s all about the agreed-upon salary. Although it voids, Brady’s deal includes salaries of $30 million and $32 million for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. This will set up the pillars for the upcoming deal.

The collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and professional payers prohibits contract restructures within one year from each other. There was one exception though as noted by former NFL agent. If the aggregate salary cap numbers do not jump in the remaining years, organizations and players can rework the deal. We know all the details about Brady’s salaries for both 2020 and 2021, so this negotiation is more than possible.

The two void years, therefore, give New England an option to make a new deal with the GOAT at any time. This means that the Patriots would not have to wait before the expiration date of the current deal. This gives the Patriots more time to sign a deal or get a feel for what the quarterback’s camp is expecting “in terms of guarantees, compensation and contract length.” Other NFL teams will have to wait for until the legal tampering window is opened two days before the beginning of free agency.

Things look really good for the Patriots, and hopefully, everything will work well for the quarterback and his teammates. Let’s see what happens in February and March.

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