NFL Rumors: Here's What Bill Belichick Offered Tom Brady for Contract
Remember the phone conversation that Tom Brady and Bill Belichick had last week? The one that reportedly "didn't go well" and then was later reported as "business as usual"? Well, according to a new report, that conversation allegedly involved a contract offer as well from the New England Patriots. Let us explain:
Dale Arnold from WEEI's radio show "Dale & Keefe" spoke about that phone call that took place between Brady and Belichick last week while on air on Friday, adding some more info as to what exactly went down during that phone conversation between the greatest head coach-quarterback duo of all-time.
“I will tell you what I was told happened. There were conflicting reports a week or so ago. Both reports said there was communication, there was a phone call between Tom Brady and the Patriots, presumably Bill Belichick," Arnold said, as transcribed by WEEI.com. "And one of the reports said the call, ‘Did not go well.’ … Adam Schefter confirmed there was a phone call and said it was, ‘Business as usual.’ I am going to tell you how both are right.
“This is what I was told happened: There was a phone call between Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. There was not a negotiation. There wasn’t a, ‘We will offer you a two-year deal at X number of dollars.’ What I was told happened was the Patriots told Tom Brady that all they can do is a one-year deal at less money than he made last year because of the $13.5 million that gets tacked onto the salary cap and basically, ‘What we’re going to be able to do here Tom, is a one-year deal, but it’s not going to be for as much money as you got last year.’”
Last season, Brady made $23 million from the extension he signed with the team in August. And as Arnold is reporting, the Patriots aren't willing to pay the 42-year-old QB that much next season, mainly because of the $13.5 million cap hit he leaves behind when his contract voids on March 18. What’s unknown, however, is if that contract offer to Brady was barring a new CBA doesn’t get ratified, because there would be more money on the table for all teams to use if a CBA did get pushed through.
New England is projected to have $29.06 million of cap space when free agency opens, according to Boston Sports Journal's Miguel Benzan. That number will be a little bit less once we find out the details of Matthew Slater's extension that he signed Friday night. That cap number also includes the cap hit that Brady will leave behind when he becomes a free agent next Wednesday.
With players like Joe Thuney, Kyle Van Noy, Jamie Collins and Devin McCourty set to become free agents, they can't afford to dump a large amount of their salary cap into one player, especially one that puts a financial burden on the team when they test the market. Because of that, it seems that Belichick is intent on lowballing the six-time Super Bowl champion QB, specifically because he is putting the Patriots in a financially tough position this offseason because he wanted to test free agency.
If there's one thing we know for sure, it's that there are several teams in the quarterback market this offseason that can financially outbid New England for Brady, and that's before we even knew the kind of offer the Patriots would throw at him. Now that we know what the alleged offer is that New England is willing to give him, it seems that if Brady wants to stay in New England, he will have to take a serious pay cut.
