$30 million a year is hardly outrageous for a franchise QB by today's standards...
and I doubt if any other players would work for minimum wage if our wives were rich...that's funny...
guess it's time to tear down the Brady statues in NE now that he is gone...
no love for him anymore...
Mike,
You understand how the salary cap works, right?
The Patriots were up against it this past year; no, 30 million is not a lot to pay for a franchise QB, but it is when you are up against the cap.
They had Cannon, Hightower, Chung and Bolden opt out due to COVID, which saved them a ton of money against the cap and despite that, all they could afford to pay Newton was 1 million dollars, which was 29 million less than Brady wanted.
The Brady negotiations happened BEFORE the COVID opt outs, so he painted the team into a corner; if they had signed him to what he wanted, the projection is they would have been about 50 million over the cap, so they would have had to cut 50 million worth of salaries.
What sort of team would have been left with 50 million dollars worth of talent gone?
Brady to his credit played ball all those years, kept backloading his contract so they could afford to sign talent to put around him.........................if he was the highest paid, there would have been less talent around him, less wins, less playoff appearances, less Super Bowl trips, less Super Bowl wins................so there is a give and take in play too...................he got sick of backloading, wanted his dough up front, guaranteed, so they told him good luck, thanks for the memories.
Sports is a business, it's not a popularity contest, if you run it like that, you're doomed.
Both Brady and the Patriots organization had had enough of each other; it was time for both parties to move on.
Nothing lasts forever, it was a great 20 year run, historic, probably will never be matched again.
If Patriots fans want to root for Brady wearing someone elses laundry, that is their choice, they are free to do what they want, I'm not one of those fans. I was a Patriots fan long before Brady arrived here as a 6th round draft choice, #199 taken, made the squad only because for some weird reason, they kept 4 QB's his rookie year, he got his chance to play only after Bledsoe nearly got killed after a vicious hit from Mo Lewis.
The Patriots the year before had signed Bledsoe to a massive extension, over 100 million dollars.................then he got hurt.............lost his job to Brady..................after he healed up, Belichick stuck with Brady...............then traded their then franchise QB to the Bills the following year.
Again Mike; it's a business, not a popularity contest, there were a lot of fans around here upset at Belichick for sticking with Brady at the time, they were 6-5 and he stuck with Brady.
It was a football decision, not a decision made with the heart, but rather with the head.
Just like parting ways with Brady after 20 years was a football decision, not a decision made with the heart, but rather with the head.
Oh and BTW, I had no idea Brady was working for 15.00 an hour, that's news to me.
He got plenty of dough while he was here; was he the highest paid, no, but he's not clipping coupons or shopping at Costco either..........................
Again, if supposed Patriots fans want to still root for Brady even though he's no longer on the team, good for them.
On one of the sports forums I belong to, there is a huge discussion about Brady; he and his Bucs come here next year, some fans are saying they will go to the game wearing #12 Tampa jerseys and openly root for Brady.
That makes zero sense to me, as in none, as in 0%; you're going to root for a former player vs your own team?
Once a player leaves here, I'm done rooting for them.
Again; thanks for the memories and best of luck to you.
