Brady reworks deal (again)

[H78]

Two thoughts:

1) Has there ever been a player, in any sport, like Brady? What I mean by that is his mix of fiscal selflessness/team awareness, physical talent, public composition, intelligence, and competitiveness? No matter how much someone hates the Patriots, how could they not look at their aspiring pro athlete kid and say, "That's exactly who you want to be like one day."

2) The timing of this is interesting. Could this be Brady sending a message to his teammates before the playoffs? "I want you all around next year, too. Now let's win this."

 

[MalzoneExpress]

 
I know you're kidding but he probably has to be picky about commercials (and his clothes and his hair and what he says in public) so his wife can continue making the real endorsement money.  I'm not sure Chanel hires women whose husbands hawk Papa John's.

 
Oh really?
 

 

[ifmanis5]

Simmons freaking out on Twitter about this, looking for conspiracies everywhere. Has he lost his mind? His wife is worth $320 million, TB doesn't need your money. Shuddup, Bill.

 

[loshjott]

As someone just said up thread, there's Tim Duncan.

And Ryan Leaf.

 

[Stitch01]

Simmons is way wrong, there's still an $18MM dead money hit to release him.

 

[Norm loves Vera]

this is a must listen:
 
Gerry Callahan ‏@GerryCallahan 2m2 minutes ago
I've hit the big time. I'll be on the Kirk Minihane Show (w/ @Gary_Tanguay ) at 6:30 on @CSNNE. We'll talk about Pats' plan to release Brady

 

[soxhop411]

this is a must listen:
 
Gerry Callahan ‏@GerryCallahan 2m2 minutes ago
I've hit the big time. I'll be on the Kirk Minihane Show (w/ @Gary_Tanguay ) at 6:30 on @CSNNE. We'll talk about Pats' plan to release Brady

......

 

[PedroKsBambino]

Obviously I don't know the man, but I'd speculate that Brady's biggest motivation at this point, and for a while, is legacy. He wants to be remembered as the best QB that ever played the game and realizes that is dependent in large part on how many Super Bowls wins are attached to his name. While he wants to be paid relatively comparable to his talent level, I think he realizes that pushing for his personal max may come at the cost of his legacy. Right now, Brady is in the conversation for GOAT, but he's one short of Montana and staring down a 10 year Super Bowl drought. Moves like this one may increase his odds of closing those gaps.

Agreed---I suspect he'd play for league minimum if it would get him better teammates next couple years and union wouldn't disown him (which it would).

As had been noted, his income is chump change for the family budget anyway. And nothing in his public persona suggests that he's spent even 25% of what he's earned already anyway

 

[Ed Hillel]

Honestly I think this is like a 1.5 out of 10 in terms of importance to the team.

 
Is guaranteed base salary paid up front? If not, I can see a situation where this allowed the team to keep Revis. Revis may just want to swim in money the moment he signs his contract.

 

[E5 Yaz]

this is a must listen:
 
Gerry Callahan ‏@GerryCallahan 2m2 minutes ago
I've hit the big time. I'll be on the Kirk Minihane Show (w/ @Gary_Tanguay ) at 6:30 on @CSNNE. We'll talk about Pats' plan to release Brady

 
why is it a "must listen"? they'll just be talking through their asses ... followed by countless needless posts about what they said while talking through their asses

 

[Norm loves Vera]

Sorry.. I was absolutely kidding.  I never listen to weei anymore before 10 am and I saw the tweet on my feed.  I thought it funny the length Gerry will go to just to get noticed these days.

 

[Stitch01]

 
Is guaranteed base salary paid up front? If not, I can see a situation where this allowed the team to keep Revis. Revis may just want to swim in money the moment he signs his contract.

While Im sure Kraft would rather not lock up money in escrow at the same time they're paying Revis a boatload of money up front, I highly doubt he's so cash flow constrained that he couldn't or would be unwilling to do both.  
 
Or, to put it another way, I dont feel we are any more likely to sign Revis than we were three hours ago.  It kind of makes no sense for Kraft to lock up $24MM given the parameters of Brady's contract and Brady is giving up very little by making this change.

 

[Ed Hillel]

While Im sure Kraft would rather not lock up money in escrow at the same time they're paying Revis a boatload of money up front, I highly doubt he's so cash flow constrained that he couldn't or would be unwilling to do both.  

So what's the point of this move then? Freeing up money for an owner that doesn't need money freed up? I thought there was a limit on cash flow that could be spent.

 

[Phil Plantier]

 
I'm sure there is some kind of wink wink deal with Kraft and Belichick

 
There better not be - the last thing we need is an actual Broncos-like rules infringement to go along with spygate.

 

[Stitch01]

The point is that $24MM doesnt have to go into escrow for pretty much no reason.  There's not a hard limit on cash flow that can be spent AFAIK, it just sucks when running a business to have massive spikes and lulls in cash flow.  Brady and Kraft seem to have a great relationship, a simple
 
"Hey Tom, can we change this structure?  We're committed to you, its still really hard to release you and we are committed to you as you obviously mean the world to this franchise and are still playing at a high level, you still get paid if God forbid you get hurt.  Locking up $24MM in cash does nothing to help the team win, as you know we have some key guys to sign this offseason and plan on spending a fair bit of cash.  Can you do us a solid?"
"OK Bob, thanks for the support in making this a winning organization"
 
is probably all it took.
 
I dont think its a very important move or would ultimately change whether the Pats sign Revis or McCourty or anyone, there's a lot of levers to pull in order to manage cash flow, this was just a simple one that could free up a lot of cash so it was pulled pretty quickly after the salary actually became guaranteed.

 

[soxhop411]

Mike Loyko ‏@NEPD_Loyko 3m3 minutes ago
According to @MikeReiss #Patriots added 1 million to each of Brady's remaining 3 years for him to restructure.
Brady now paid 8m-9m-10m

 

[Stitch01]

Even easier decision for Brady.  Not hard to see $24MM freed up return more to the team than under $3MM in present value over three years, so win-win for all involved.
 
Minor cap hit to the team from that move, but pretty marginal (and sort of belongs in another topic, but the Pats moves this season should permanently kill talk about the team being cheapskates and cutthroat towards players and cap/penny pinching heartless stewards of capital. They reworked Vollmer's incentives so he got paid.  They made sure Wilfork got paid his incentives.  They played LaFell yesterday so he hit his incentives)

 

[Byrdbrain]

this is a must listen:
 
Gerry Callahan ‏@GerryCallahan 2m2 minutes ago
I've hit the big time. I'll be on the Kirk Minihane Show (w/ @Gary_Tanguay ) at 6:30 on @CSNNE. We'll talk about Pats' plan to release Brady

This is what is known as a joke, maybe not a very funny one but a joke.

 

[Eck'sSneakyCheese]

I fucking love Tom Brady. More than unconditionally. It's borderline homosexual.
 
I really hope this means a serious push for Revis and a decent payday for DMC. Both guys deserve to get paid and I don't want to see either in another uniform. Ever.

 

[TFP]

Two thoughts:

1) Has there ever been a player, in any sport, like Brady? What I mean by that is his mix of fiscal selflessness/team awareness, physical talent, public composition, intelligence, and competitiveness? No matter how much someone hates the Patriots, how could they not look at their aspiring pro athlete kid and say, "That's exactly who you want to be like one day."

 
Hell, there's another one in this town, but on a smaller scale for sure. Patrice Bergeron.

 

[GeorgeCostanza]

Two thoughts:
1) Has there ever been a player, in any sport, like Brady? What I mean by that is his mix of fiscal selflessness/team awareness, physical talent, public composition, intelligence, and competitiveness? No matter how much someone hates the Patriots, how could they not look at their aspiring pro athlete kid and say, "That's exactly who you want to be like one day."
2) The timing of this is interesting. Could this be Brady sending a message to his teammates before the playoffs? "I want you all around next year, too. Now let's win this."

Bridget pulling the goalie and his potty mouth might count against him for some people. Especially in bible belty areas, but I completely agree with you.

 

[Saints Rest]

 
Hell, there's another one in this town, but on a smaller scale for sure. Patrice Bergeron.

I thought you were going to say Pedroia (hence the "smaller" reference).

 

[soxhop411]

Michael Giardi ‏@MikeGiardi 48s48 seconds ago
Way it was explained to me is Brady wants to keep this team & this defense together. Believes this helps cause. #PATRIOTSTALK

<https://twitter.com/MikeGiardi/status/549715106016538624>

 

[patinorange]

Michael Giardi ‏@MikeGiardi 48s48 seconds ago
Way it was explained to me is Brady wants to keep this team & this defense together. Believes this helps cause. #PATRIOTSTALK

I don't know anything about contracts, cap space, or the financial impact of escrow payments. I could care less. But it sure does seem like Tom is doing something positive for the team and his legacy. Even if it's for the sake of perception. It's a positive perception.

Get that fourth ring Tom!

 

[ifmanis5]

Dunno why but Simmons' Tweeterspazzout is bothering me- does he really think the Pats are doing this so they can release him? Release him for who, exactly? Hand over the keys to JG? Make a deal for Romo? Bring back Doug Flutie? Why would this be anything other than giving the team a little more cap flexibility?



Here's the point - it's much easier for Pats to release TB this spring now. It was impossible if they paid him the 24m. This worries me.
&mdash; Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) December 29, 2014

 

[Just a bit outside]

Two thoughts:

1) Has there ever been a player, in any sport, like Brady? What I mean by that is his mix of fiscal selflessness/team awareness, physical talent, public composition, intelligence, and competitiveness? No matter how much someone hates the Patriots, how could they not look at their aspiring pro athlete kid and say, "That's exactly who you want to be like one day."

The closest comparisons I can think of are from basketball. Duncan and Nowitzki are sure fire hall of famers who took less money. Nowitzki is estimated to have left about 70 million on the table when he signed his last contract. Holy shit!

 

[Stitch01]

Dunno why but Simmons' Tweeterspazzout is bothering me- does he really think the Pats are doing this so they can release him? Release him for who, exactly? Hand over the keys to JG? Make a deal for Romo? Bring back Doug Flutie? Why would this be anything other than giving the team a little more cap flexibility?
 
 

Here's the point - it's much easier for Pats to release TB this spring now. It was impossible if they paid him the 24m. This worries me.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) December 29, 2014

Yeah he's just wrong hopefully he reads Miguel's article

 

[The_Powa_of_Seiji_Ozawa]

Michael Giardi ‏@MikeGiardi 48s48 seconds ago
Way it was explained to me is Brady wants to keep this team & this defense together. Believes this helps cause. #PATRIOTSTALK

<https://twitter.com/MikeGiardi/status/549715106016538624>

 
then he should find a way to get Danny Amendola to forgo his contract and retire

 

[NDame616]

But my FB feed says it'll bring salary cap relief!
 
 

Tom Brady: Quarterback and Patriots reportedly rework contract, free $24 million in salary cap space

 

[Sausage in Section 17]

1) Has there ever been a player, in any sport, who's wife out-earns him, like Brady? What I mean by that is his mix of fiscal selflessness/team awareness, physical talent, public composition, intelligence, and competitiveness? No matter how much someone hates the Patriots, how could they not look at their aspiring pro athlete kid and say, "That's exactly who you want to be like one day."

 

 
I ask this question honestly.
 
How many star professional athletes in North America have (or had) wives who earn more than they do?
 
This is a very small club, in a very nice neighborhood.
 
Not to take too much of the love going out to Brady away, but if I'm him, another ring is worth way more than whatever else he wants to quibble over. It is the rarest and most valuable prize to pursue.

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Need more information about the new deal to say specifically, but generally speaking, any amounts guaranteed "for injury only" are not treated as fully guaranteed amounts (which are locked in from day one, spread over the years equally for cap purposes).  For example, a 2016 "injury only" guarantee won't affect the cap in 2015 - a 2016 fully guaranteed amount would.

 
So I read Otto's post & think there would be an impact on the cap -- no?
 
 
Edit: talk of releasing or trading Brady is as far fetched as trading for Fitz. Let's not pull a Simmons. 

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

 
I ask this question honestly.
 
How many star professional athletes in North America have (or had) wives who earn more than they do?
 
This is a very small club, in a very nice neighborhood.
 
Not to take too much of the love going out to Brady away, but if I'm him, another ring is worth way more than whatever else he wants to quibble over. It is the rarest and most valuable prize to pursue.

 
Manziel better marry rich.

 

[Van Everyman]

Didn't we have the same initial reaction last time he did this? "OMG, what a selfless ball player who only loves his team!"

"It's only bc of Giselle's wealth that he can do this kind of thing!"

"But he's fucking over all the other QBs!!"

And then it came out that, in fact, there was some incentive for him doing it that wasn't all about the team's best interests.

None of which to say he wasn't trying to help his team in each case but Volin's piece today makes it seem pretty clear that he's leveraging the fact that he won't get cut to pocket a few extra dollars in the short term and create some flexibility for himself in the long term.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/12/29/tom-brady-restructures-contract-frees-million-for-patriots/K0zl0j1y36gOshr4d6QuIK/story.html

 

[Leather]

Dunno why but Simmons' Tweeterspazzout is bothering me- does he really think the Pats are doing this so they can release him? Release him for who, exactly? Hand over the keys to JG? Make a deal for Romo? Bring back Doug Flutie? Why would this be anything other than giving the team a little more cap flexibility?
 
 

Here's the point - it's much easier for Pats to release TB this spring now. It was impossible if they paid him the 24m. This worries me.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) December 29, 2014

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


 
Simmons is projecting his own frustration and insecurities regarding ESPN onto Brady and the Patriots.  And yes, he considers himself Brady in this scenario.

 

[ObstructedView]

 
Simmons is projecting his own frustration and insecurities regarding ESPN onto Brady and the Patriots.  And yes, he considers himself Brady in this scenario.

I think it's a combination of projecting his own neuroses an attempt to show that that he's savvier than the average naive fanboy. As someone else posted, I wonder what he thinks the motive is. Does he really believe the Pats are looking for a way to quickly end the Brady era? Maybe they were smitten by JG's scrambling prowess on Sunday?

 

[Silverdude2167]

Barnwell is firmly in the "If anything, this is a move designed to make exactly one thing easier: Brady's eventual departure from the Patriots."Barnwell just spent over 1750 words saying nothing (no wonder simmions loves him)and telling us that a guy valued at 4 billion dollars does not need any additional cash flow. 
Maybe Barnwell is right, but if I were him I would refrain from talking about how companies are run financially and stating that saving 24 million dollars upfront does not matter because the owner is rich.

 

[BrazilianSoxFan]

My fear is that Brady is retiring after this year and this was just about not holding in escrow money that he would not receive anyway.

 

[MainerInExile]

My fear is that Brady is retiring after this year and this was just about not holding in escrow money that he would not receive anyway.

 
No way.  Brady has talked at length about playing well into his 40s.  Do you think that he's just going to say, "Yeah, I was just pulling everyone's legs."

 

[mwonow]

I don't think this is about cash flow, but fwiw, I worked for a billionaire at one point, and he definitely cared about amounts much smaller than $24 million
 
Edit: to be clearer on the first part, there must be some wrinkle by which they can use the $24M up front in contract negotiations and then true it up at the start of/during/after the 2015 season, allowing them to add players/money before they have to cut

 

[BigJimEd]

So from a salary cap perspective, the Pats have $1 million less to spend in each of the next three years.
But as an organization they free $24 million in cash flow that would have been in escrow.
Financially, is it worthwhile to pay $3M over the years to do this?

Does this make it easier to restructure Brady's deal in the future?

 

[NortheasternPJ]

If the Pats are worried about $1 million dollars a year for Brady's contract, which currently is $10-15 million a year under what he should get, then I'm not sure what to say. 
 
Brady should be getting $20 mill a year. He's now getting $24 million over 3. I don't see how the $1 million "incentives" for him doing this should impact them at all.

 

[Darnell's Son]

So from a salary cap perspective, the Pats have $1 million less to spend in each of the next three years.
But as an organization they free $24 million in cash flow that would have been in escrow.
Financially, is it worthwhile to pay $3M over the years to do this?

Does this make it easier to restructure Brady's deal in the future?

The salary cap will probably go up by more than $1 million a year, so that part is negligible. 

 

[Otto]

 
So I read Otto's post & think there would be an impact on the cap -- no?
 
 
Edit: talk of releasing or trading Brady is as far fetched as trading for Fitz. Let's not pull a Simmons. 

 
Yes, the reporting on this is all over the map, from what I've seen.  Subject to the caveat that we haven't seen the new deal, the concept of "Injury Only" guarantees is used by teams for many reasons, one of which is that it allows them to stagger cap hits.
 
There are three conditions that can be attached to "guarantees": for skill, injury, and cap.  If you have all three (as in, the payment is guaranteed against those three conditions), its "fully" guaranteed.  When a future base salary is fully guaranteed, it is categorized as "OATSB" (other amounts treated as signing bonus) under CBA rules.  That means it is spread evenly over the years of the contract, up to a maximum of five years, and starts to hit the cap in an evenly distributed manner immediately.
 
Conversely, if a future base salary is guaranteed only for injury, it is not treated as OATSB and does not begin to hit the cap until the event (usually a date) that eliminates the other conditions for which it is not otherwise guaranteed (for skill and cap).
 
In short, a 2017 salary that is guaranteed for "injury only: won't affect the cap in 2015.  A 2017 base salary that is fully guaranteed today is treated like a signing bonus (OATSB), spread evenly over the contract (up to five years) for cap purposes, and hits the cap immediately (including 2015).

 

[Shelterdog]

So from a salary cap perspective, the Pats have $1 million less to spend in each of the next three years.
But as an organization they free $24 million in cash flow that would have been in escrow.
Financially, is it worthwhile to pay $3M over the years to do this?

Does this make it easier to restructure Brady's deal in the future?

 
It's certainly a reasonable decision, particularly since you pay the $3 million in 16 or 17 $60,000 weekly increments a year starting in 8 months, 20 months, and then 32 months, payable only as long as Brady is on the team. Heck, keeping $24 million out of escrow for 8 months has a substantial value.   But I'm more inclined to believe that it has to do with management practices.  I'm fairly certain that Kraft could find $24 million somewhere or secure a low interest loan for that amount, but I suspect he doesn't want to take money from the family's wealth/his wealth/the other businesses to fund normal operations of a particular business.

 

[Shelterdog]

If the Pats are worried about $1 million dollars a year for Brady's contract, which currently is $10-15 million a year under what he should get, then I'm not sure what to say. 
 
Brady should be getting $20 mill a year. He's now getting $24 million over 3. I don't see how the $1 million "incentives" for him doing this should impact them at all.

 
I think you've got to add the signing bonus ($6 million a year over 5 years) into his salary--so he just went from 42 million over the next 3 to 45 over three.  He's still somewhere between $5 and 10 million a year, or more, of his market rate.

 

[splendid splinter]

Barnwell is firmly in the "If anything, this is a move designed to make exactly one thing easier: Brady's eventual departure from the Patriots."Barnwell just spent over 1750 words saying nothing (no wonder simmions loves him)and telling us that a guy valued at 4 billion dollars does not need any additional cash flow. 
Maybe Barnwell is right, but if I were him I would refrain from talking about how companies are run financially and stating that saving 24 million dollars upfront does not matter because the owner is rich.

I don't know, he may have a point there.  Sure, the new deal provides some immediate financial benefit to the Patriots, but it's not one that is going to impact their ability or willingness to dish out large signing bonuses to retain or attract players.  They would still pay what it took to improve the team - Brady's new contract doesn't make that more or less likely (slightly less, from a cap perspective, but not significantly so).  So what is Tom's motivation in giving up $24M guaranteed in exchange for $27M non-guaranteed?  He signed that extension in February, before the draft.  Maybe the selection of Garoppolo made him want an out in the event the Pats want to make a change.  He said he'd retire if he "sucked", but what if he starts to lose his fastball but still wants to play, but the Pats want to move on?  This gives them the ability to release him instead of trading him or keeping him and creating another awkward Bledsoe/Brady situation.  He gets to choose where he'll play out his career, and they're off the hook for the money.  They'd need to deal with a PR shitstorm which makes it a highly undesirable and unlikely move, but Barnwell isn't arguing that they plan to do this, just that the new contract benefits everyone in some way, if it ever comes to pass.

 

[BigJimEd]

I didn't mean to suggest the Pats were worried about $1M to Brady or that he wasn't still underpaid.

Just looking at it from a while cap perspective where $1M is a very small percentage, close to half percent, but still not completely irrelevant for a team that will be tight to the cap.

Going off of Otto's post though, Brady's cap number for next season may not change. Or at least there are other cap implications that I wasn't aware of. I was just going off a report that his cap number with go up.

 

[amarshal2]

I'm sorry but the notion that this is a set up for Brady to be released is just obviously wrong. The Patriots aren't setting Brady up for a gotcha moment with their all-time player. Brady also isn't giving up guaranteed money for free.

Sure, if he's suddenly atrocious in the next year or two it makes it easier to move on...should that unlikely situation occur...but this move was made with the idea that such a situation is very unlikely. Otherwise the price would have been a lot more than $1M/year.

 

[Pxer]

The reason rich people are rich is because they care about things like cash flow.
 
Brady helped the Patriots in this regard and was rewarded with $1MM bump in salary per year.

 

[dcmissle]

Still, using Brady as a banker is weird bordering on preposterous, particularly in light of the cost of money. But more preposterous to me is the notion that they are greasing the skids for Tom's departure. It's as if Brady and Kraft are clowning everybody else

1.5 out of 10 on the scale seems right to me.