Tom Brady is doing his part to keep the gang together.
This week the Buccaneers and Brady announced that they had restructured his contract freeing up 14 million dollars in cap space for the 2021 season.
After signing Lavonte David to a two-year contract, the Bucs were approximately eight million dollars over the salary cap with numerous free agents yet to sign.
The restructuring of Brady’s contract gives the Bucs the cash they need to re-sign their next priority free agent. That should be linebacker Shaq Barrett.
Barrett played under the franchise tag last season is looking for a four-year deal that would pay 19.7 million a year, according to Spotrac.com.
The new deal for Tom Brady is for four years, with two of those years voidable. Brady will earn 41.075 million dollars in 2021. The restructuring keeps Brady in Tampa through the 2022 season.
After signing the extension, Brady wrote on his Instagram page, “In pursuit of 8, we’re keeping the band together.” which was followed by a comment from Barrett, “Yessir.”
Brady is all about winning Super Bowls, and if he feels he needs to restructure his contract to help the team sign players that will help the team win, so be it.
This is the sixth time in Brady’s career that he has restructured his contract and the first time he has done this with the Bucs.
This new deal will also allow Brady to play until he’s 45 which would make Brady the oldest quarterback to start a game in NFL history.
Jason Licht talked about the restructuring of Tom Brady’s contract and what it does for the team in a team’s statement.
“When we acquired Tom a year ago, we were extremely excited about the leadership, poise, and winning track record that he would bring to our locker room.
“Since that time, he has proven himself to be the ultimate competitor and delivered in every way we had imagined, helping us capture the Lombardi Trophy. Year after year, Tom proves that he remains one of the elite quarterbacks in this game, and we couldn’t be happier to keep him in Tampa Bay as we continue to pursue our goals together.”
With Brady going for Super Bowl number eight, you get the feeling that there will never be enough Super Bowl trophies that will quench the thirst in Tom Brady for winning.
His passion for winning far exceeds any other athlete of our generation. That’s why Brady is the most incredible athlete of our generation and one of the greatest athletes of all time.
There is still a lot of work to do as the Bucs work to sign Shaq Barrett before the free agency’s opening on March 17.
Rob Gronkowski cleared up any rumors about his future. Gronk told TMZ this week, “I’m back, man. I will be back playing football, man. I love the game of football. I loved playing last year. I had a great time.”
The Bucs have been very creative with their moves to get Lavonte David signed and Tom Brady to restructure his contract.
The Bucs need to work that cap magic, get Shaq Barrett signed to a new contract, and get Rob Gronkowski under contract for 2021.
