Tom Brady wasn't worried about his contract in 2005, and isn't worried now
by Marima on Jan 26, 2010 6:48 PM EST
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Tom Brady's last contract extension was in May, 2005, the same year he was honored as Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated magazine.
He was 27 years old and fresh off a hot streak of winning 3 Super Bowl Championships in 4 years. Peyton Manning was one year into his $14.2 million a year deal with the Colts and Brady could have stood firm or held out - demanding that with three rings he deserved to be the highest paid QB in the league. But he didn't need that.
According to a Peter King article at the time:
"To be the highest-paid, or anything like that, is not going to make me feel any better,'' [Brady] told me. "That's not what makes me happy. In this game, the more one player gets, the more he takes away from what others can get. Is it going to make me feel any better to make an extra million, which, after taxes, is about $500,000? That million might be more important to the team.''
Read those words over again. I mean, how many guys in sports history, on the verge of signing the biggest contract they'll probably ever negotiate, have said to the team: "Hey Mr. Kraft! I really don't want that much money. Just be somewhat fair, OK? And have a nice day ..."?
The mark of Brady's self-assuredness and humility about his place in the football galaxy is that when he signed his six-year, $60 million contract in the middle of last week, I'm told he didn't even go out and celebrate. Neither he, his family nor his representative leaked the contract; I'm also told Brady's dad found out about the deal from a reporter.
The deal is about $4 million a year less than Manning's, $3 million a year less than Mike Vick's, who's really going to have to go out and perform for that deal to pay off for Atlanta. Give or take a few BMWs, Brady's contract averages out to about what Donovan McNabb and Chad Pennington make.
Brady not being concerned about his current contract is just him being true to his character. He has confidence it will work out, he won't worry about it, and he plans to "work his butt off" in the meantime because he is a professional.
Check out USA Today's interactive chart to find NFL player salaries from any year from 2000-2009, that can be sorted by team, player, position and year. I used it to sort quarterback salaries for different years, and it's a pretty interesting and useful tool.
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eli manning and jay culter...two overrated and two overpaid qb's
Non Sibi Sed Patriae.
i love my ZX-6r Kawasaki.
I bleed Scarlet and Grey...A Buckeye for Life
Stuff like this that makes Tom unequivocally the face of the Patriots.
Moreso than any other player on any team in Boston, Brady has been “that guy” for us. It doesn’t hurt that he’s won three championships, and hasn’t had any real adversity as far as bad teams are concerned. But still, even Paul Pierce couldn’t help but consider trade scenarios back when the Celtics sucked.
It’s gonna be a sad day when Bill and Brady’s era ends.
USG
Your point about Paul Pierce is interesting
The hubby brought that up the other day, how people were calling for Paul Pierce to be traded back when the Celtics were terrible – as if he was the problem. What do those same people think now? It wasn’t that Pierce suddenly got so much better in 2007-08, it was that the team surrounding him got so much better.
It’s a similar situation that Randy Moss is in I think. The media and some fans think he’s the problem and should be traded, when in fact the team needs more wide receivers out there with him to divert the opponents’ defense and make the best use of his talents.
Keep the faith!
I didn't get the feeling that they blamed Pierce.
I just got the feeling that they didn’t think that we were really going to be able to compete anytime soon, and so had to get what we could out of him. We did not forsee Danny’s coup.
Of course, I wasn’t nearly so entrenched in the sports media back then. My exposure tended to be more “What me and my friends talk about during free periods.”
USG
by Ben Buchanan on Jan 27, 2010 12:12 PM EST up reply actions
I was going to I swear!
But I got sidetracked with the Paul Pierce thing and… sigh…
It is pretty funny though.
Keep the faith!
Brady doesn't have to worry about the money ever.
Nice place to be in life. His wife makes $25 mil a year as a model. What does Manning’s wife make? Cookies? Mmmmmm, cookies. :P
I hope with Brady as a player rep now, things speed up a little in the contract negotiations. I wonder how he will effect some of the decision making, being an unselfish kind of guy.
More athletes should be like Tom Brady.
Kind of all I have to say…
"And I'm sick of all my judges/They're so scared of letting me shine/but I know that I can take it/So long as somebody takes me home every now and then" -- The Killers
Wow!
The Chiefs are paying more for Matt Cassel than the Pats are for Brady. Kind of depressing as a Chiefs fan, but considering how far under the cap they were when Pioli gave him that contract it makes sense. Didn’t Brady cut some his salary to make room for Moss? Dude just wants to play football, thats pretty awesome.
Brady did restructure his contract for Moss
According to a Boston Globe article from May, 2007:
Quarterback Tom Brady has yet to publicly comment on the Patriots’ acquisition of receiver Randy Moss, but his actions speak volumes.
As part of the whirlwind process that brought Moss to New England, Brady provided a key assist.
Because the Patriots had to acquire the original terms of Moss’s contract as part of the trade with the Raiders, the team needed to clear salary cap space to absorb the $9.75 million figure that Moss was scheduled to earn.
Enter Brady, who agreed to restructure his present contract that runs through 2010 to create the space.
That allowed the Patriots to finalize the trade for Moss, who then tore up his old contract and signed a one-year, $3 million deal that could be worth up to $5 million in incentives.
“Tom does what he can in order to win,” said Don Yee, his agent.
Brady is entering the last year of his contract in 2010, so I’m hoping for some early February news that he’s been resigned to a new contract that will lock him up for another five years. Hard to believe Eli is the head QB honcho in terms of salary, but maybe not for long – big brother Peyton will be negotiating for his renewal in 2011.
Keep the faith!
he sure got that 5 million that year
Non Sibi Sed Patriae.
i love my ZX-6r Kawasaki.
I bleed Scarlet and Grey...A Buckeye for Life
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