How much should Tom Brady get paid in 2020 and beyond?
With his career finally winding down, Tom Brady holds his future in his own hands — and he should make use of it to get paid like the player he is.
We live in a world where good quarterbacks are rare and get paid as such. It makes sense — teams with a great roster but even mediocre QB play usually meet their doom eventually during the regular season or early on in the playoffs (see: the Chicago Bears).
There are some outliers to this narrative (2015 Denver Broncos, anyone?), but over the past two decades, we’ve seen that most Super Bowl winners get to the top of the mountain on the strength of good play from their signal-callers.
Because of this idea that you can’t win without a top-tier QB, the NFL has seen the price of quarterbacks skyrocket over the past few years. The top-13 highest-paying yearly deals in the league all belong to quarterbacks, with Tom Brady currently ranking 15th behind Khalil Mack.
With quarterback salaries starting to creep up into the $30 million range annually, the 2020 offseason could finally be the time that Brady gets paid like the top-five quarterback that he is. Over his entire 20-year career, only six times has Brady ever ranked in the top-five of quarterback salaries.
For a player who has put in the body of work he has, that seems ridiculous. And yet, that’s just what Brady has done throughout his whole career — he takes pay cuts to make sure the team that surrounds him is as good as it can get. Most of the time it works — he and the New England Patriots have had a run unlike any other in NFL history for the past two decades.
But enough of that now.
As much as I would love to see Brady back on a deal well below market value for the skill he still brings to the table at age 42, it’s time for the man to get paid big bucks this offseason. Brady has all the leverage in the world to ask for $30 million or more this offseason, and teams should be ready to give it to him.
The story behind Tom Brady and Drew Bledsoe. dark. Next
This prior offseason — and coming off a Super Bowl victory — Brady took yet another pay cut just to see the offense around him deteriorate into mediocrity.
What’s the point? This will likely be Brady’s final payday, and if a player like Jacoby Brissett can make $21 million next season, there is no reason that Tom Brady shouldn’t be getting a contract offer worth at least $30 million annually this spring.