Brady has it all right now. More money than his great, great, great grandkids would ever need. A wife that rakes in cash, a castle to live in, numerous deals. But he is missing that 4th SuperBowl to be tied with Montana. It must drive him nuts that he can't get it. Nothing classy. he just wants that superbowl. In reality his contract extension could be like this.
3 years at $60 million with $27 million guaranteed. This is how NFL contracts work. he would never see the $60 million. But that 60 million goes agains the salary cap and fucks up the accounting for them to sign new players. So just giving him the guaranteed straight up leaves gap room. I'm pretty sure he has a $10 million Superbowl winning bonus in there along with a $5 million MVP bonus and shit like that.
yeah that's one thing that's fucked up about the NFL...you hear about these giant contracts, but they aren't worth the paper they are printed on, most of these guys never see a third of that money, it's deferred or the contract is back-loaded.. and they count against the cap.
Brady is one of the few guys that if he signed a monster deal chances are he would get every penny, he's a mega-star...but taking guaranteed money at less than what he could potentially earn is smart and helps everyone. Could he command more money? absolutely, but he's not a young QB anymore and if he gets hurt again (a very real possibility) The Patriots don't owe him shit...and business is business, if he couldn't play they would dump him with no hesitation. Smart guy, made a good move IMO when you weigh in all of the factors.
Yeah he could hold out for more money but the truth is, where is he really going? he's going to sign with the highest bidder and wind up in Kansas City ? He knows he's in a great situation and isn't looking to rock the boat any more than the Pats are.
