Tom Brady Proves Once Again Why He’s the G.O.A.T.
Yeah yeah, I know. Everyone is tired of the G.O.A.T. talk. No matter what sport it is, it’s overdone. On top of that, everyone is also tired of Tom Brady and his constant praise and his constant winning.
But it’s hard not to praise him. Whether you like the guy or not, he has won 7 Super Bowls.
Earlier today, Tom Brady signed a four-year contract extension that keeps him in Tampa Bay. The deal will keep him through the 2022 season. The genius of the deal is it frees up $19 million against the salary cap for this upcoming season, giving the Buccaneers a chance to bring back all of their free agents so that they have a chance to go for back-to-back Super Bowls wins.
If you’ve been following Tom Brady or even the NFL as a whole for a while, this news isn’t a surprise. Tom Brady has been restructuring his contract for his entire career. This has always allowed New England to keep their talent or add to it if need be. It’s been one of the recipes for success, and Brady is now continuing to do it down in Tampa.
Brady will be 44 years of age when the next NFL season starts. Not many thought he could do it at age 43 with an entirely new team and system to learn, yet here we are with the Buccaneers as the defending Super Bowl champions.
Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys just signed Dak Prescott to a 4-year, $160 million contract, making him the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL, something Tom Brady has never been. Dak joins the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson, and Russell Wilson as being the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league.
The problem with these monster contracts is that they don’t have room to keep the talent that helped make these quarterbacks great. Soon, Mahomes will lose pieces on his offense the way Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson have done over the last couple of years. The only hope they have is that their GM drafts well for them so that they have talented players on rookie contracts.
Maybe soon these other quarterbacks will get the memo and realize that restructuring their contract or taking a “hometown discount” is their best chance to win. Even if the freed up money is spent on defense, it still ultimately helps said quarterback in the end.
Not only is Tom Brady doing everything he can to free up cap space to be spent in keeping the team together, but he seems like he’s having a ton of fun down in Tampa Bay. He’s also creating a culture of winning that is going to attract more people to come to the Buccaneers on cheap deals just to be a part of something great.
It may not seem fair to the rest of the league, but the aura of Tom Brady is real. People want to play with him, and they’re willing to take less than they’re worth sometimes to do so. Having all of these weapons around him will help cover up any signs of aging that he could possibly show. They’re able to take a lot of the pressure off of him, which was something he hadn’t had in New England for the last few seasons other than Julian Edelman.
Perhaps Father Time will come for Brady this upcoming season and he’ll finally break down. It’s always a possibility. When it comes for you, it comes quick. Except Brady has seemingly been immune to what the rest of humanity goes through. Maybe we all should look into this whole “TB12” thing and find our own path to immortality.
