According to SI’s Peter King the New England Patriots and Tom Brady worked out an extension for cap relief that more or less throws the entire NFL pay system out of whack if King’s details are correct. King reported the 3 year extension to be worth $27 million dollars.

Brady was set to count for $21.8 million against the cap in 2013 and 2014 and earn cash compensation totaling $30 million, all of which was for all intents and purposes fully guaranteed. According to King Brady reduced his cap figure to $13.8 million a savings of $8 million in cap room, savings which will likely be used to franchise tag one of their big three free agents. King also reports that Brady will receive a $3 million dollar signing bonus, and salaries of $7, 8, and 9 million from 2015-2017. Based on Kings reported cap numbers it would seem that Brady will earn cash compensation of $6.4 million in 2013 in addition to his signing bonus, $7.4 million in 2014, and a likely a large prorated bonus in the ballpark of $15 million in 2015 assuming New England used a normal type of contract. Odds are the deal is completely guaranteed to match the value of the other elite QBs in the game at least in that metric.

The low value of the deal is something of a head scratcher that has to make the rest of the players pretty unhappy. This is to QB’s what the Nnamdi Asomugha contract with the Raiders was to CB’s except in reverse. Brady’s new money APY would be lower than that of the Jets Mark Sanchez.  A QB of Brady’s stature should command upwards of $21 million. Perhaps this deal will be the catalyst for the market correction I discussed with QBs that needs to occurs with their salaries growing disproportionately large compared to the rest of the NFL while the salary cap remains flat. Or perhaps people will just not even reference it in negotiations.

Brady’s situation is probably more unique than anyone else’s in the NFL in that he is married to someone whose earnings dwarf those of Brady’s. They have financial security most do not have in the NFL and that is something that all of the other players will likely point to when asked to take Brady’s contract into account during negotiations. That said it is a pretty welcome thing to see happen from a star in this league, even when you are a fan of an opposing team.  Brady has carried the Patriots for years almost by himself and now he is giving the team the financial flexibility to help him as he nears the end of his career.

Edit: I had a brain fart on the calculation up top and its been fixed to represent the right number

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