Tom Brady restructures contract, reportedly creating $9 million in cap room for Buccaneers

Tom Brady will be playing football in 2022, and he’ll be doing it in Tampa. After flirting with retirement earlier this offseason, Brady ultimately decided to come back for (at least) one more year, and now, he’s giving his team a little bit of breathing room under the salary cap. 

According to a report from ESPN, the Buccaneers restructured Brady’s contract, creating over $9 million in additional cap space. 

Brady was set to carry a base salary of $8.925 million for the 2022 season, as well as a $1.47 million roster bonus that was included in his contract in the event that the NFL added a 17th game to the regular-season schedule, which it did last season. 

It’s likely that the Buccaneers converted the majority of Brady’s base salary (all except for the $1.12 million league minimum) as well as the 17th game roster bonus into signing bonus, which can then be prorated over the duration of the deal. There are three voidable years in Brady’s contract, which will help with the new bonus proration from the salary conversion. Additionally, the $1.875 million of likely to be earned incentives in his contract may have been turned into not likely be earned incentives, which would create additional room under the cap.

With the extra space, the Buccaneers likely have enough room to bring back Rob Gronkowski, if he decides to play for one more season rather than retire, and should be closer to being able to sign their whole draft class. However, Brady is now set to count for nearly $32 million in dead money on the Buccaneers’ books in 2023, and he is not even guaranteed to be on their roster as he can still become a free agent next offseason.