"Think he paid for that" - NFL analyst claims Patriots found a way to circumvent cap space to satisfy Tom Brady
During Tom Brady's time in New England, apart from his on-field success, it was his ability to constantly take less money than what he was worth that made his teams better.
This allowed for the franchise to go and acquire better players and it worked out well for them, as they won six Super Bowls during his time there. John Middlekauff spoke on the 3 and Out podcast and thinks that the Patriots found a way to work outside the salary cap.
While not illegal, Middlekauff said the Patriots could have wiggled around it during Brady's time in Boston.
"My question is the Glazers have to be kicking cash back to Tom in some way, right? I'm thinking through TB12. How much of it goes on in the NFL? I've never owned an NFL team, but I would imagine a lot because like you said, Tom Brady is worth so much money to the Glazers, he was worth so much money to the Krafts."
Middlekauff further added:
"Well, think about what the Krafts did. They employ TB 12, they employed Guerrero as a consultant. They rented out. You know, Tom leased a building from them across from Foxborough, think he paid for that building? Do you think they could have siphoned money through him? That's what I would do. Like ultimately, circumventing the cap is not illegal. That's a that's an NFL problem, not a legality. So if you can't get caught, I would do it. "
Tom Brady continues selfless contract stance in Tampa
This season, the 44-year-old is set to make $25 million. That is seriously low when looking at what other quarterbacks will be making in 2022. However, as we know, that is not uncommon for Brady as it is something he has routinely done throughout his career.
Looking at the other star quarterbacks and their average annual salaries, you get a sense of how much of a paycut the 44-year-old has taken.
Aaron Rodgers will make $50,271,667; Deshaun Watson will make $46,000,000; Patrick Mahomes will earn $45,000,000; and Josh Allen will earn $43,005,667, according to Spotrac.com.
On the pay scale, Brady ranks joint 20th in the league for the highest paid players. It is because of this that the Buccaneers can retain several of their star players and put new pieces around the legendary quarterback.
Will it pay off again in 2022 as it did in 2020? We will watch with anticipation.