http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/12/29/report-tom-brady-restructures-contract/ Posted by Mike Wilkening on December 29, 2014, 5:24 PM EST AP The Patriots have reportedly created some additional financial flexibility. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has reworked his contract. According to Schefter, Brady’s contract is now guaranteed only for injury. The maneuver will free up $24 million for the Patriots to spend this offseason, ESPN reported. Per Rotoworld.com salary data, Brady is slated to make $7 million in salary in 2015, $8 million in salary in 2016 and $9 million in salary in 2017. His cap numbers for 2015-2017 were slated to be $13 million, $14 million and $15 million, respectively. Cornerback Darrelle Revis is among the Patriots’ potential free agents.
It creates cash-flow flexibility for the Patriots. On Saturday, the final three years of Brady’s contract -- $7 million in 2015, $8 million in 2016 and $9 million in 2017 -- became fully guaranteed for “skill.” When that happened, it required the Patriots to have a $24 million cash commitment on their budget, and by the end of March, the team would have had to have put that money up with the NFL because of league requirements. With Brady agreeing to change the guarantee from “skill” to only “injury,” it means the Patriots don’t have to do that. So the team gains cash-flow flexibility with this move. It does not affect the salary cap. It helps the Patriots in other areas. They now have more ready cash. Thus, it potentially puts them in a position where they can get creative with some critical upcoming negotiations, as cornerback Darrelle Revis, safety Devin McCourty, left tackle Nate Solder (fifth-year option), running back Shane Vereen and kicker Stephen Gostkowski are some of the team’s notable players scheduled to be free agents after this season. In a situation where the Patriots could be competing against other teams for those players, the possibility of being able to commit more cash to them in the 2015 calendar year could be an advantage. To a lesser degree, but something that is also important to point out, the restructured contract allows the Patriots to release Brady without being committed to a full, $24 million guarantee. It’s hard to imagine them doing this, given that the contract has been widely viewed as a great value. Brady gains in the exchange as well. As part of the restructure, the Patriots added $1 million to each of the base salaries in Brady’s contract, per a source. Brady will now get $8 million in 2015, $9 million in 2016 and $10 million in 2017. That is still a significant bargain for the team based on market rates. But more than that for Brady, what he hopefully gains is better players around him as the team can now spend more cash in 2015 on key players. It's rare to see player and team working together like this. The restructuring reflects, from this viewpoint, a situation in which the team’s star player and management worked together on a deal that can be viewed as mutually beneficial. A situation like this doesn’t happen unless there are a few important factors in play, specifically a star player who isn't holding out for every last dollar, trust between key principles and an agent, Don Yee, who was at one time described by former Patriots executive Scott Pioli as one of the “most respectful and admirable people in the industry.” I see it as a situation that is especially rare in professional football, a result of both sides having an appreciation for a partnership that has been mostly beneficial for all involved in the past 15 years.
Still probably not enough for them to resign Revis. Fuck Brady though. Like we need another reason to hate this guy?
It will only be working together if the Pats spend the money right? Didn't Brady just adjust his contract and then the Pats ended up being conservative with their spending on offense?
Speaking from experience (I dated Giselle for awhile before Tom - long story short I cheated on her in a mile high experience with Halle berry) it's not all that great.. Major issues/expectations. She likes her men to be a little bit on the "soft" side if you know what I mean.. The old adage is true..no matter how good a broad looks or how rich she is, some guy somewhere is sick of her shit..
I don't get it. So he is going to be one of the lowest paid qbs? Or he will still get 15-20ish million a year, but it somehow doesn't affect the cap? If so, why doesn't every team just do this?
Because his salary is no longer guaranteed and he can be released at any time. The only reason he's doing this is that his salary is so low that it's impossible to find another QB cheaper than the $8m he'll make who is better. Other teams can't do this since other QBs will never accept that the $50-60m of guaranteed money out of the $120m 6x$20m contract become unguaranteed and they can be kicked out after just one bad year. That was Revis' contract......... no guaranteed money. And he was kicked out after 1 year. All other QBs (and most mega contracts like Megatron etc) have massive guaranteed amounts.
It's not about stars. It's about money to spread through the whole team. Lots of teams have more stars, but few have the talent at players 20 to 50. For 2015 the Pats want the money to offer more up front guaranteed money to their own upcoming FA's. They have quite a few.
He isn't making that much. He got the majority of his money up front.He got $1mil raises in each of the remaining 3 years for changing the contract to guaranteed for injury only. From $7, 8, 9mil per year to $8, 9, 10. The Pats now don't have to hold the $24mil per league rules they would under his previous designation. Most of Brady's money came when he redid his contract in 2012. He got a $30mil signing bonus.
Think "budget" vs. "cap." The Krafts are loaded but it's still a business. This didn't give them any cap space, but it freed up $24 that the team was going to have to put in escrow with the league as the guarantee on his contract. That money can now be used to come up with some creative bonus structures and contracts for (hopefully) Revis, McCourty, etc.
Still confusing as all hell.. Also weird cuz i woke up 10 minutes ago and checked this thread, didn't see an answer, then 5 minutes later i got 2 responses lol
We travel in pairs. But we walk in single file to hide our numbers. Like Sandpeople. Think of it this way... Every team has a cap, and every team (presumably) has a budget that represents their "real" spending in that particular year. The cap is basically just a number derived from the formulas that teams use - it's not what they actually spend. It's not their "payroll" or so to speak. Brady's deal, prior to yesterday, required the team to fork over $24M to the NFL to hold in escrow for his contract guarantees. That would have happened this offseason, I think. By agreeing to change that to an injury-only guarantee, they now do NOT have to fork over that cash. In return, he got about a $1M bump for the remaining three years of his deal. This allows the Patriots to cut him without absorbing any "dead" money, but considering he makes only a bit more than your high-end backups, they'd be crazy to do that. In the end, they may have even used up more cap space (because of his bumps), but they freed up all that "real" money that can be used to creatively put together bonuses for deals with guys who are slated for free agency or guys like Revis who have the option year in 2015 but would require a revision to really be viable.
