The New England Patriots gave quarterback and all-around dreamboat Tom Brady a three-year contract extension on Monday, which will keep him with the team until 2017. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was probably not amused.
Why the hell would he care? The grossly-underpaid (by market standards, certainly not yours and mine) Rodgers has two years left on his deal, but is in line for an extension of his own. And after what Brady just did, Rodgers probably lost some leverage.
That’s because Brady actually worked his deal to give his club some salary cap relief. That’s also very unlike what Drew Brees did last season when he held the New Orleans Saints hostage for an average of $20 per season. It’s also unlike what the totally mediocre Joe Flacco is about to do to the Baltimore Ravens.
Brady took less money than he could have demanded in order to keep his team competitive.
You read that right. An athlete actually turned down money in order to help his team in the name of “remaining competitive.” Like, “I just want to win, bro!”
When in the hell have you ever heard of such a thing? Surely not from Brees, who threatened to hold out. Definitely not from Flacco, who wants Brees money even though he’s nowhere even near the talent neighborhood. Certainly not from Greg Jennings who wants — get this — $14 million per season.
Football players pretend they give a shit about winning, but in actuality, they only give a shit about themselves.
[Insert obligatory Brett Favre reference here.]
So what’s wrong with that? Well, nothing, except the hypocritical way most of these guys go about it.
So here’s what Brady did.
His extension is for $27 million over three years. That’s new money and it breaks down like this, according to Peter King — a $3 million signing bonus immediately and salaries of $7 million in 2015, $8 million in 2016 and $9 million in 2017.
The great part for the Patriots is the deal allows them to save $15 million in cap space over the next two seasons. Brady’s cap number never increases to more than $15 million in any season under the deal.
Surely Brady could have gotten the $20 million a year paycheck if he wanted it. Instead, he chose to give his team the ability to sign other players. Had he not done this, we’d be sitting here talking about Rodgers’ future new deal averaging north of $20 million a year.
We’ll finish deifying Brady later, though.
Rodgers may still get the next biggest contract in league history, but it will severely limit the Packers future financial flexibility if it happens. However, now the Packers have the shining example of Tom Brady and can say, “Hey, we can be competitive and win more games if one-fifth of our salary cap isn’t committed to you every year.”
In some ways, you could argue Rodgers is already doing the Packers that favor. His deal averages just $10.5 million and he hasn’t complained about it once. In fact, he’s publicly stated he’s not worried about his contract.
Will he be as passive about it when it’s time to cash in? Will he care about staying competitive when he sees dicks like Flacco getting overpaid?
Only if he really cares about winning.
Rodgers is going to do a cap friendly deal as well. He plans to be in GB for his whole career and the cost of living there ain’t shit. A million bucks goes a hell of a lot further in GB than everywhere else. Plus Aaron lives a pretty boring life it would seem. He’s not financing some posse or anything and he has never seemed terribly money motivated. In fact I saw a special where his mom said he wants to be known as not the greatest player in the NFL, but the greatest man. His deal with the Packers will reflect his desire to win.
In fact that would be a huge selling point for the Packers when going after free agents about how far your money goes. Hey…we might be a sleepy little town, but this is where you come if you want to focus on your family and career. This is where you come to gain financial stability and career clarity. If you want the nightlife, then we don’t want you.
Green Bay is the best place to become the best you can be.
I should trademark that shit.
Is it time to officially call Brady the best quarterback ever? I know we had some good ones- the best being Starr- but damn, Brady is the best.
Denver QB J Elway did the same thing except he only got vet minimum….Also Tom Brady didn’t do this the first big contract he got look it up before kissing his behind to much…I agree its cool tho……
I hate the Patriots, hate Tom Brady, hate Belicheck. But I have to give credit where credit is due. We will soon see how genuine our #12 is.
I concur – Bradys a smart kid….
However, the pain is reduced when Wifey’s makin a kazillion bux in modelling and endorsements….
Although some here like to bash A-Rog for his commercials, he makes some serious scratch discount double checking & eating at Pizza Hut…
I could be deluding myself here, but I think he’s a down to earth & realistic sort of person who won’t have an ego about not being the highest paid QB in the NFL. If he makes up in endorsements what he doesn’t get in salary, I don’t see him being a Diva about his contract.
It pretty simple. Do you want championships or money ? Ask Dan Marino if he would give back some of the $$ he’s made over the years for one, just ONE championship. Why I get a kick out of these guys who sign big deals with teams like Oakland, Cleveland or Buffalo ( Mario Williams) do you really think they thought they would win a superbowl ??? ( MONEY MONEY)
I get what you’re saying but I hope AR doesn’t look at his wall at contract time and see that photo of him holding the Lombardi and say, “wait a minute, I already have a championship”.
Although Leroy Butler at times has such challenges speaking that he cannot even conjugate properly, I really admire him because he is just as much of a Packers fan as you or I, as evinced by the fact that he took a pretty good discount. Hoping somehow Rodgers proves the same. . …
Several points here….
1. Aaron Rodgers is at a different point in his career.
Tom Brady did get his mega-deal and was the highest paid QB before Manning was paid more.
2. I doubt Brady actually plays out those contract years. I suspect they are just pushing out the date until the salary caps ballons in 2015. If Brady is still playing at the same level expect him to get mo money then.
2. Rodgers is grossly underpaid right now and has not once publicly complained about it. He WILL want the respect a mega contract implies. This guy is all about being shown respect and he holds grudges. Once he gets that contract, I expect he would do similar “favors” for the Packers but he is going to want the big one to be shown how much the Packers respect him.
3. Brady is married to a woman who is going to make 1 BILLION dollars during her career for just being hot. If they get a divorce… she is the one who would have to pay him alimony!
4. I need to find a hot rich wife.
He holds grudges against those who disrespect him (and by extension, those he doesn’t respect). There is little doubt in my mind that Rodgers has the utmost respect for the organization and vice versa; furthermore he is an intelligent human being who understands that the amount of money one is paid does not always directly correlate to the respect others have for said individual (you really think people respected TO when he was making the big bucks?). It is a virtually incontrovertible point that Rodgers and the Packers will establish a contract that will pay Rodgers commensurately for his talents and allow the Packers to remain competitive.
Does any one here seriously think Thompson wants to pay Rodgers the big money? Does he think any one is worth it?..except maybe for himself…and since he is not going to why give it to someone else…just cut more players and hope Aaron will keep quiet….have never cared much for Thompson….
TT’s job relies on winning football games, which relies on the play of the QB. So, yes, TT will give Rodgers whatever it takes.
TT’s salary doesn’t count against the salary cap, so not sure where you were going with that or what you were trying to say there.
Go drink liquid draino. Anyone who dislikes THE POLAR BEAR should die.
Were you kicked in the head by a mule when you were a child?
Excellent post. At some point a franchise has to ask itself if they really want all their money tied up in one guy? Even the QB. How can you build a team around someone if you don’t have any money left over. I think that emphasizes your point about players only caring about getting paid.
IMO, If Joe Flacco gets his $20M/season and he doesn’t take the Ravens deep into the playoffs next year, I’d start the processes of looking for a future QB. Hell, I’d probably start that process come the draft in April.
I agree with packer Bob. I know its crazy unconventional but I wouldn’t give flacco that contract. I would release him and hope for Alex Smith trade or let him test the market, fail, and then sign him at a reasonable price. Of course that would mean the ravens would be the only team to release their quarterback after the super bowl…twice.
So much for less money.
The new contract signed Monday by Pats quarterback Tom Brady pays him $27 million total over the final three years. But he was paid $30 million as a bonus for applying his name to the dotted line at the bottom of the document.
The only way Brady deserves credit for not being greedy is in comparison to other vultures like Drew Brees. Otherwise, the man is absurdly rich and has children with two different absurdly hot and rich women. He should hardly be applying for sainthood.
I concur with hombre that A-Rodge while wanting a big deal will work with the Packers to keep his salary cap hit at the $15 mil or less figure. As Brady did, A-Rodge and the Packers can make that possible by either front or backloading it with guaranteed money rather than salary.
And like Brady’s contract, A-Rodge’s contract will take advantage of the salary cap boost in 2015.
Yeah, difference being that Tom Terrific has already made his money and this is what he wants for his 1st contract. We are still in Prime Time as far as Green Bay’s QB is concerned, that will cost us a lot. The pressure has never been higher for Ted & co. to draft better than they have. Dig baby dig! I smell another youth movement, it’s already begun.
All these big money QB’s should do what Brady did. Sure, making tons of money is awesome but it really does cripple your team financially.
except brady didn’t save the pats any money because it’s a front loaded contract with a ton of guaranteed money and when brady retires/gets hurt the pats are still gonna be on the hook for it
Things aren’t always as it seems. The deal benefits Tom Brady also, 30 million signing bonus immediatley. Guaranteed money rose from 25 mill to 57 mill. Years 2015-2017 Brady would be grossly underpaid, But as is his history with the Pats, look for another restructure after the 2014 season, especially with the salary cap going up with new TV revenue. The benefit to the Pats is they get about 8 mill in salary cap relief, for the next 2 years
I dont see this having much effect on Rodgers much, he’s been underpaid for 2 years, and the Packers will give him his due.
If past behavior is any indicator, TT is going to draft AR’s replacement this year, develop him for a year behind AR, then franchise him for a year and then after the new guy is ready to go, release or trade AR. He’ll be 31/32 at that point and TT will have a QB at $3-4MM ready to go as opposed to having to pay one $20-$25MM.
TT’s going to draft Landry Jones out of Oklahoma in the 4th round, and then sign a kid out of Vanderbilt named Jordan RODGERS as an UFA.
Sounds inconceivable now, but might be worth remembering in 2015.
Everyone forget Favre did something similar for the Packers?
I’m sure Rodgers will work with the Packers to try and set up a deal that keeps them competitive. Guy is still hungry to win…