There’s a financial incentive for Tom Brady delaying his retirement originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Why doesn’t Tom Brady just get it over with and announce his NFL retirement now after Saturday’s report that he plans to call it quits?
For starters, Brady may not be totally ready to step away. But there’s another motivation for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback to wait a bit before officially calling it quits.
Brady is set to earn a $8.925 million base salary in 2022 that includes a $15 million signing bonus and other incentives adding up to a $20.3 million cap hit. He’ll receive that $15 million signing bonus this Friday (Feb. 4) if he’s still on the roster, so it doesn’t make sense for him to retire before then.
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Here’s where things get a little tricky: Brady would owe the Bucs $16 million if he retires, according to former agent and NFL salary cap expert Joel Corry. But the Bucs could opt to let Brady keep that $16 million as a token of appreciation for rejuvenating their franchise and leading them to their second-ever Super Bowl title in 2020. The Seattle Seahawks did something similar when Marshawn Lynch retired in 2016, per Corry.
Regardless of whether Tampa Bay picks up Brady’s $16 million tab, though, it’s likely his retirement won’t become official until after June 2.
If Brady retires before then, the Bucs would be forced to eat $32 million of dead money. If he’s on the roster past June 2, Tampa Bay could transfer some of his cap hit to 2023 and save about $12 million in 2022 cap space, according to Corry.
There’s one more option for Brady and the Bucs: He could reduce his 2022 contract to the NFL minimum and stay on the roster until June before retiring. The Saints did this with Drew Brees in 2021, as the QB helped New Orleans free up nearly $24 million in cap space by cutting his salary from $25 million to $1.1 million.
Long story short: Even if Brady “officially” announces his retirement in the near future, he might remain on the Bucs’ roster for several months due to financial reasons.
And don’t expect that announcement to come before he receives that $15 million check on Friday.