Tom Brady Signs Contract Extension with Patriots

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady signed a three year contract extension that is tacked onto his current deal, which expires in 2014.  Now Brady will be a Patriot for the life of his career, as he’ll be 40 years old when this extension expires.  Brady also gave New England a home town discount; he’ll average $9 million per season over the three years.  That’s not bad of course, but compared to the $20 million Drew Brees is getting, it’s a relative bargain.

This frees up some salary cap money for the Patriots to spend on retaining other players as well, so if the focus is on winning, this is a good team move.  It will also be interesting to see how this move affects other top of the line quarterbacks who are, or shortly will be, in contract negotiations.  Player’s agents and teams both look at these deals to set market values for their clients or players, so a below market contract for a QB like Brady could have a negative impact on players shooting for the stars.  So, if Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco thought he could get something close to Drew Brees money, he may have to “settle” for something closer to Tom Brady money.