Brady contract manuever avoids $2 million dollar loss during 4 game suspension
Nobody ever said Tom Brady and his people weren’t smart.
After losing his latest appeal over a four game suspension as a result of the whole “Deflatgate” mess, Brady said he’s done with the legal procedings. That means he will be suspended for 4 games at the start of the next season.
Restructered Contract
Sitting out those four games would have cost Brady some $2 million dollars in salary, but here’s where the “smart” part comes in. In April, Brady restructured his contract. In the restructuring, he reduced his salary, but increase his signing bonus.
Instead of losing $2.11 million dollars due to the four-game suspension, Brady will now only lose $235,941, according to NBC Sports.
Brady had been due $9 million as his salary for this upcoming season. Under the restructered deal, he dropped his base to $1 million and took the rest as a signing bonus.
Brady announced last week that he would give up the legal fight after the decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, who rejected his latest appeal of the “Deflategate” suspension. His only other option was the US Supreme Court.
“I’m very grateful for the overwhelming support I’ve received from Mr. Kraft, the Kraft family, coach Belichick, my coaches and teammates, the NFLPA, my agents, my loving family and most of all, our fans.
It has been a challenging 18 months and I have made the difficult decision to no longer proceed with the legal process. I’m going to work hard to be the best player I can be for the New England Patriots and I look forward to having the opportunity to return to the field this fall.” — Tom Brady via Twitter
Case may still not be over
While Brady says he won’t be appealing, the case still might not be over. The NFL Players Association has indicated it still might pursue the case with the Supreme Court.
“The penalty imposed by the NFL was unprecedented, unjust and unreasonable, especially given that no empirical or direct evidence of any kind showed Tom did anything to violate League rules prior to, during or after the 2015 AFC Championship Game. What Tom has had to endure throughout this 18-month ordeal has been, in my opinion, as far removed from due process as you could ever expect in this country.” — Patriots owner Robert Kraft via Statement
