While speaking with reporters the day after he got an $8 million raise and two more years added to his contract (at $30 and $32 million apiece), Tom Brady did not sound like a guy who’d just received a lucrative two-year extension. Now we know why.
In a tweet on Monday, NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport confirmed what many had suspected since news of Brady’s new deal leaked out: it’s an “extension” in name only.
As ESPN’s Adam Schefter hinted on Sunday, Brady is still operating on a year-to-year basis with the Patriots. “[His] deal can, and will, be adjusted each year as long as Brady plays,” Schefter wrote.
Rapoport further clarified the situation with his Monday tweet: “Sources: Patriots QB Tom Brady’s new deal includes a provision that does not allow NE to franchise or transition tag him for the 2020 season. The final two years automatically void on the last day of the 2019 league year, but he cannot be tagged. Brady will be a free agent.”
Though Rapoport’s report hadn’t hit the internet yet, Brady essentially confirmed it when he talked about having one year remaining on his contract … the day after he signed a two-year extension.
“It is what it is,” Brady said. “That’s a good line, so whoever said it, it’s very pertinent. Like I said, there’s a lot of guys who have one year left on their contracts, so the situation — I’ve got one year to go, and we’ll see what happens.”
So why would the team want to give the six-time Super Bowl winner an extension that voids before it begins?
“The main benefit to the ‘extension’ for Belichick was the opportunity to lower Brady’s 2019 cap hit and give the team flexibility this year,” writes Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston. “By penciling in voidable salaries, he avoids marrying the team to a pay rate for 43-year-old Tom Brady until he sees how 42-year-old Tom Brady looks.”
Why Brady would agree to the deal is a bit more complicated. By ensuring he becomes a free agent, he doesn’t give New England the ability to force him to stay with the Patriots on a predetermined salary using one of the league’s tags. While it’s unlikely he would ever leave the team, it does give him leverage in negotiations following this season.
“So it’s basically a compromise that hurts both sides a little bit, but helps both sides a little bit and helped them come to this deal,” Rapoport said on Inside Training Camp.
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