I've been saying all along, it's the years that matter. They can sign him to 3/75, with 50 guaranteed. Then he walks after year 2.
With the 13.5 dead money, his cap hits look like this:
29.5mil in 2020
29.5mil in 2021
4.5mil in 2022 (when he's not here).
If they cut him, or wait until after 3/18 to sign him, it's 13.5mil in 2020. Period. So, that's how you commit to him for 2 years and not really kill your cap. If they want to sign a FA QB, they would have to pay the new QB less than 16mil in order to have a cap hit that would be less than what they would have with Brady here.
Is there a QB out there that would cost less than 16mil in 2020 that folks would rather have over Tom Brady? I say no.
That's why, IMO, there are only two options here. Re-sign Brady for a contract that looks something like this, or let him walk (along with guys like DMC, Hightower, etc.), roll with Stidham, win 4-5 games at most, and then roll your dice on free agents and the draft and see if you can rebuild something.
I'd personally rather take the first approach, sign Tom, put some talent around him, and make a couple more runs at it. Then he walks/retires after 2021, and you barely have any cap issues in 2022.