Is that all there is?
Must be more to Brady’s new incentive-laden deal
FOXBORO — Tom Brady finally will have a chance to get paid like Jimmy Garoppolo, or at least be in shouting distance of his former backup.
Of course, there’s a catch. Brady can do so if he hits certain performance-based incentives that add up to $5 million, as he’s close to locking up a restructure of his current contract, according to several sources.
So, the GOAT has to earn it with this re- vamped deal. He has to play and produce on the field, or lead the Patriots into the postseason — assuming these incentives aren’t simply a matter of showing up — before his contract resembles other quarterbacks who’ve won nothing.
Doesn’t it seem a bit asinine to make the five-time Super Bowl winner work to earn a little extra cash? Doesn’t it seem ridiculous to make the reigning NFL MVP, who just threw for a record 505 yards in Super Bowl LII, do cartwheels for a small bump in pay this season?
Most NFL quarterbacks whose resumes pale in comparison to Brady don’t have to walk through hoops to get the money.
On so many levels, this doesn’t compute. Matt Ryan, who hasn’t won a Super Bowl, doesn’t have to hit certain snap numbers to get his money. Neither does Garoppolo. He just gets the mountain of guaranteed cash.
And if you really look at the money, adding $5 million on top of Brady’s $15 million base doesn’t jump him too far up the ladder in terms of the big money quarterbacks.
He reaches the top 10, but he still has a number of quarterbacks ahead of him, including Jimmy G ($27.5 million per season), Ryan ($30 million), Kirk Cousins ($28 million), Matthew Stafford ($27 million) and Derek Carr ($25 million).
Yes, he’s 41, but he doesn’t have an injury history like Rob Gronkowski, who played on an incentive-based one-year deal last year.
In this regard, the news is a head scratcher, to be sure. Brady is not getting an extension, a bonus, or anything guaranteed, which is what we thought the quarterback was hoping to secure.
And yet, if Brady is agreeing to it, he must have been satisfied on some level. It’s an odd fix, and possibly a temporary solution. The guess here is there has to be more to it. Maybe there’s more coming, and this was just an appetizer, or some kind of goodwill gesture by Pats owner Robert Kraft.
In a season where training camp has seemed a bit unusual, given the lighter workloads for Brady, Gronkowski and other veterans, maybe this is just another thing we can chalk up in that category.
Perhaps there’s more involved in it for Brady, who didn’t play in the preseason opener last night against the Redskins.
Brady has never needed to be at the very top of the money rankings. He’s never insisted on being the king of the quarterbacks money-wise as long as he has a championship-caliber team around him.
Kraft has handled Brady’s contracts recently, and it’s certainly possible he did again. The two have chatted on the field at different points during the first few weeks of training camp. So this has been in the works.
Naturally, inquiring minds want to know if other concessions were made. That’s the unknown here. Did Brady agree to restructure with earned incentives with some stipulation about his body coach Alex Guerrero and his access or privileges at Gillette Stadium?
What we can tell you is Guerrero has treated Brady as he usually does at Gillette. That hasn’t changed. There’s been no problems with him going in and out of the building. Everything’s been pleasant and cordial between Guerrero and other staff members as far as we’ve heard.
Belichick, of course, would have to ultimately agree to make that change and reinstate Guerrero to his former existence on the sidelines, on the team planes, etc. It’s just hard to believe the Hoodie has fully signed off on that.
Although, the way things have gone, there’s no question Belichick has been running a different type of camp this season. This has been more like Camp Lite. Brady and Gronkowski have been given a lighter workload, along with some of the other veterans.
But why? Is it in response to behind-the-scenes grumbling by his two stars and other former Patriots who have been more public about the less-than-fun atmosphere at Gillette? Maybe. Or perhaps Belichick is just more conscious of having been in the Super Bowl three of the last four years, and taking that into account, while also not wanting to fall victim to what happens to the Super Bowl loser the following year.
Whatever the case, Brady remains signed through the 2019 season. He’s getting his contract fixed, just not the way anyone envisioned.
At least, for now.