Bucs clear over $9M in cap space by restructuring Brady's deal

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is still poised to be a free agent after the upcoming season. Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Buccaneers clear over $9M in cap space by restructuring Tom Brady's contract

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 4/22/22

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady may or may not be preparing to play in his final NFL season following a short-lived retirement that ended before the start of the new league year last month. As things stand today, Brady could hit free agency roughly 11 months from now, and Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht admitted earlier this week he hadn't yet had discussions with the 44-year-old about potentially remaining the club's QB1 beyond one more postseason tournament.

Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, Brady has offered the Buccaneers some salary-cap relief by restructuring his contract for the upcoming campaign.

Tom Brady and the Buccaneers restructured his 2022 contract today, creating over $9 million of added salary cap space for Tampa Bay as it gets ready to head into next week’s draft, league sources tell ESPN. Brady still is scheduled to be a free agent after this season.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 22, 2022

As Josh Alper noted for Pro Football Talk, specifics about what changes were made to Brady's deal are unclear heading into the weekend. It's known the contract includes three void years meant to spread his cap hits over that period, and PFT has also reported the agreement has a clause that prevents the Buccaneers from keeping Brady's rights past 2022 via the franchise tag.

One thought that comes to mind is that Brady wanted to free up some cap space so the Buccaneers can bring superstar tight end Rob Gronkowski back on a contract that adequately matches his value and on-the-field contributions. Earlier this month, Gronkowski remarked that he was "not ready to commit to the game of football," and it seems that hasn't changed ahead of the NFL Draft that opens this coming Thursday night.

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