Why Tom Brady Will Never Be the NFL's Highest Paid QB

When news of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s agreement on a contract extension that will reportedly pay Brady an average of $18 million per season, the word was that this makes him the NFL’s highest paid player. 

But wait, not so fast bean counters. 

While “a source familiar with the deal” tells ESPN that “Brady's contract is worth $72 million and guarantees him $48.5 million,” this deal apparently won’t kick in until next year. 

Meanwhile, Payton Manning’s contract is up after this season, and guess what that means? 

Yep, you can bet your sweet bippy that Manning signs an even richer deal with Indianapolis. 

In fact, Colts owner Jim Irsay has already said that he intends to make Manning the NFL's highest-paid player. 

This means that by the time Brady’s contract starts, he will already be No. 2 on the NFL’s rich list. 

Now, this means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things, and likely means little, if anything, even to Brady and Manning. Still, this somehow passes for news in the greedy and cynical world of professional sports. 

Look, maybe you don’t care about any of this, but these high-wire acts of one-upmanship by owners of pro teams eventually means that we, the fans, eventually have to dig a little deeper in our pockets for those tickets. 

And hey, many athletes do care about this stuff. They are used to competing to be the best in everything they do, and that competitive spirit often extends into where they stand on the money list. 

It’s common to hear athletes in every major sport talking about how money equates to respect. That’s why you see guys talk about winning yet almost always chasing the last dollar at free agent time. 

They can’t help but have huge egos—these are guys who have been told how great they are their entire sports playing lives.    

Now, in this case, both Brady and Manning say all the right things about not caring about money, and they do seem genuine in their sentiments. Both of these QBs really seem like good people on and off the field. 

And, admittedly, it’s hard to argue against either of these great players receiving top dollar. 

Still, you wonder just how out of control major sports salaries have become. From Alex Rodriguez to the next big contract (Albert Pujols), baseball is littered with contracts that boggle the mind of the average fan. 

Sure, insane salaries aren’t limited to sports. CEOs of even struggling companies can walk away with tens of millions of dollars, while movie stars make gross amounts of gross salary from every movie.   

Tom Cruise, for instance, makes more than $60 million per film.  

But whatever happened to this being a major recession? Many workers have taken pay cuts or are out of work, yet the entertainment industry is apparently unaffected. 

With less disposable income, you would think that attendance at movies, concerts, and sports events would be down. Yet the stars' salaries continue to climb, seemingly oblivious to the economic downturn. 

It may make dollars and cents, but it just doesn't make sense.