Tom Brady committed to the 2021 season in the afterglow of his seventh Super Bowl victory this month, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht envisions talking about another contract with his 43-year-old quarterback.
Brady signed a two-year deal in free agency in March 2020, exiting New England for $25 million in 2020 and the same amount in 2021.
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The Buccaneers are strapped for cash entering the new league year, and turning Brady’s $25 million salary into a bonus, or splitting his contract between base salary and bonus, would bring significant cap relief. The accounting maneuver was commonly utilized by the Patriots.
“We’d like to keep this going,” Licht said on The Rich Eisen Show.
The NFL league year, which is the official start of free agency, begins March 17.
A move on Brady’s contract likely would come before March 9, the deadline for the Buccaneers to employ the franchise tag. Likely candidates for the one-year tag include wide receiver Chris Godwin.
Head coach Bruce Arians said Brady is showing no signs of wear and the uninformed observer would never guess his age. Brady repeated this month that he’d like to play multiple more seasons, and in the past pointed to 45 as a benchmark he was striving to hit. He will turn 44 in August.
“It appears he had a really good time this year winning the Super Bowl and likes our organization,” Licht told the Rich Eisen Show. “Likes our coaches, likes our head coach and ownership and we certainly love him. Usually when you have those two things going for you, it’s a match made in heaven. So we’d like to keep this going.”
–Field Level Media