Patriots Are Willing to Make Big Move to Keep Tom Brady

TB12 has been playing for New England Patriots for a salary below market value for years. However, in order to keep Tom Brady, the team is reportedly willing to raise that number.

According to a recent report, the Patriots would pay Brady upward of $30 million in order to get him re-signed. Brady, meanwhile, would rather see New England using its resources to bolster its subpar group of pass-catchers.

“It’s my understanding that going back to New England is a legitimate and real option for Brady, obviously, and they’re willing to make it worth his while,” NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport said. “I’m told they’re willing to pay him in excess of $30 million if that, in fact, is what it’s going to take to bring Brady back. It would bring him in line with much more of the salaries of the elite quarterbacks for the first time in his career.

“We’ll see if that’s enough, because from what I understand, he wants a commitment from them that they will spend specifically on weapons for this offense, something they tried to do it last year with Antonio Brown — did not work.”

The Super Bowl LIV @NFLGameDay Notebook with @MikeGarafolo:
— The #Patriots are willing to pay Tom Brady in excess of $30M if that’s what’s required to keep him.
— The #Chargers among teams expected to make a push.
— New England’s fall back options include trading for a QB. pic.twitter.com/G4dxkUQmTh

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 2, 2020

Brady’s “No. 1 priority” is an improved group of offensive weapons. The Patriots lacked consistent secondary receiving threats behind Julian Edelman and James White. They were also falling short in terms of their tight end trio of Ben Watson, Matt LaCosse and Ryan Izzo.

Following a pseudo-extension signed last August, Brady made $23 million from the Patriots this season. On March 18, the 42-year-old will become a free agent for the first time in his career.

The Patriots currently have just shy of $30 million in salary cap space for the 2020 season, so they’ll have to do some financial planning if they want to keep Tom Brady. One way to do that is by doing some cuts, extensions or restructures.