When it comes to the re-signing Tom Brady, the numbers don’t add up for the Patriots. I know Patriots fans don’t want to hear that but unless Bill Belichick makes cuts elsewhere or gives Brady a longer term deal at less money, it will be tough to bring him back.
The perception is Belichick doesn’t want Brady back but the reality is, the Patriots cannot afford to pay Brady what he made last season let alone give him a raise.
Brady made $23 million in 2019. Given the Patriots current cap situation, Brady won’t sniff that in 2020. Not unless the Patriots make some very difficult decisions financially.
In order for the Patriots to re-sign Brady and surround him with the “weapons” he desires, they would need to free up cap space. That is easier said than done.
The two players that stand out as potential cap casualties are right tackle Marcus Cannon and linebacker Dont’a Hightower. Cannon is scheduled to make $8,916.6,666 in 2020 while Hightower is set to make $11,320,305.
The Patriots could cut both and save the majority of their salaries but they would still have dead money on the books. Cannon’s dead money would be just north of $3.7 million dollars while Hightower’s dead money cap hit would be $2.5 million.
A Marcus Cannon trade or release would result in $3,733,334 dead money. Since his cap number is $9,622,916 releasing or trading Cannon would increase the Patriots cap space number by $5,279,582 if we presume a player with a $610K salary takes his place in the Top 51.
— Patscap (@patscap) March 15, 2020
Dont'a Hightower's cap number is $12,445,313. Dead money is $2.5M so if traded or released the net cap savings would be $9,335,313.
Pats could lower his cap number via an extension.
— Patscap (@patscap) March 15, 2020
In that case, it makes more sense for the Patriots to release Cannon and rework Hightower’s deal and extend him. Hightower is the more valuable of the two players.
The Patriots would save roughly $14.5 million dollars if they cut Cannon and Hightower. If Belichick cut both players, would he want to use all of that money to re-sign Brady? The answer is no.
Belichick would only pay Brady what the team can afford which is in the range of $13 to $15 million per season. Not only that but Belichick would only give Brady a one year deal.
Would Brady take that? He might not have a choice given that his market isn’t as robust as initially thought. The Buccaneers, Raiders and Chargers are still in the running but they are going to wait to see what happens in New England before they make an offer. They do t want to overpay for Brady unless they had to.
The bottom line is, Brady has to figure out if he wants to finish his career in a Patriots uniform. If he doesn’t care about that, then the decision is easy. He should move on because he can make more money elsewhere.
If Brady wants to win and finish his career here, then he will take whatever offer the Patriots make and move on. Brady has no leverage at this point but the ball is still in his court. He will ultimately decide where he plays next season and beyond.