Tom Brady is likely to be on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ roster for several more months despite formally announcing his retirement this week.
There is a reason for this, and it is one that both sides are surely aware of. As is often the case in these situations, it comes down to maneuvering under the salary cap. Brady restructured his contract after his first year with Tampa Bay, pushing some of his guaranteed money back to later years in order to give the Buccaneers immediate cap space to strengthen the team. That bill will start coming due in 2022, with the Buccaneers still needing to absorb $32 million in dead cap to account for what Brady is owed.
The Buccaneers could move Brady to the retired list now, but that would be hugely expensive. As noted by Albert Breer of The MMQB, Tampa Bay can move the bulk of Brady’s dead-cap hit to 2023 by waiting until after June 1 to officially list him as retired.
The Buccaneers are already facing significant offseason changes. A number of key players, including wide receiver Chris Godwin, are set to hit free agency. There is also the obvious issue of replacing Brady. They will need all the cap space they can come up with in order to stay competitive.
As for Brady, he might have a way to make almost as much money after retiring as he did while playing.
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