Tom Brady Restructures Contract with Patriots: Latest Details and Reaction

In an effort to keep the New England Patriots competitive in the coming years, quarterback Tom Brady has decided to restructure his contract to help free up cap space for the organization.    

Adam Schefter of ESPN had the report via his Facebook page:

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In a deal turned into NFL today, Tom Brady restructured his contract to give NE $24 million more in cash to spend this winter, per sources.

Under the new deal, Brady changed the $24 million in “skill” guarantee to only “injury” guarantee, meaning that Brady now would get the guaranteed money only if he were injured. Brady also now can be released from the Patriots without any liability, but he then would become an unrestricted free agent, free to command the type of guaranteed money he has agreed to surrender.

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Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald and Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports elaborated on the agreement:

Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe provides comments from Brady:

Howe reports on the specific details that make this deal a worthwhile decision for Brady:

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As a reward, the Patriots increased his base salary by $1 million in each of the final three years of his deal to $8 million in 2015, $9 million in 2016 and $10 million in 2017.

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Brady's cap hits will be slightly different now that his base salaries have increased. They were originally set to be $13 million in 2015, $14 million in 2016 and $15 million in 2017, but they should increase $1 million each season. Those numbers will be confirmed once the contract becomes more readily accessible.

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As Schefter noted, the deal will help the Patriots re-sign players like Darrelle Revis, who will surely command a big payday after his excellent 2014 season. 

It's the sort of decision that separates Brady from other players in the NFL, as Ian Kenyon of Bleacher Report tweeted:

Brady is coming off another excellent year, throwing for 4,109 yards, 33 touchdowns and nine interceptions while leading the Patriots to the top seed in the AFC in this year's playoffs. Despite a slow start to the season, the Patriots finished ninth in passing offense and fourth in scoring offense.

And his passion for the game certainly hasn't waned, as evidenced by his remarks after he was taken out at the half in Sunday's meaningless game against the Buffalo Bills.

“I love playing football,” he told Lee Schechter in a special to ESPNBoston.com. “The more opportunity I can have to do it, the better it is for me. I love being out there. I wish we had gone out there and scored touchdowns every time we had the ball, but we just didn’t execute well enough to go do that.” 

It's that passion—and his willingness to do things like restructure his contract to help the team—that make Brady so beloved in New England and respected around the NFL.

And it's the fact that he continues to play at an elite level even at the age of 37 that suggests he should continue terrorizing defenses for years to come.