Tom Brady extension with Patriots includes $30 million signing bonus

With a lower salary cap hit over the next five seasons, Brady is guaranteed $33 million no matter what happens.

Feb 26, 2013, 4:29 PM UTC

Jim Rogash

Tom Brady's contract extension is set to pay him a $30 million signing bonus over the next three years, according to ESPN's Field Yates.

Brady, 35, will earn $10 million of that bonus in 2013, $15 million over the course of 2014, and $5 million on Feb. 15, 2015, according to Yates.

The huge signing bonus drops his base salaries to measly figures. Brady will earn $1 million in his base salary next season and $2 million in 2014:

Brady’s salary for 2015, 2016, 2017 are $7 million, $8 million, and $9 million, which are fully guaranteed for injury only. That means that if Brady is released because of an injury, he will still be paid that money. In the unlikely event that he were released due to skill considerations, he would not be paid that money.

Brady’s salary cap figures over the next five years are also much more manageable. Before the new contract was signed, Brady was a $21.8 million cap hit in 2013. Now his biggest hit will be $15 million in 2017:

2013: $13.8 million
2014: $14.8 million
2015: $13 million
2016: $14 million
2017: $15 million

Yates breaks it down simply: The maximum value of the five-year deal is $57 million, with $33 million guaranteed no matter what happens. The remaining $24 million is “leftover likely to be seen should Brady continue to perform at his expected level.”

The best part about this whole deal for Patriots fans at Pats Pulpit? It means Tom Brady will be a Patriot until he's 40. Which means, likely, that will be his entire career:

There's a lot to like about this deal. But you know what I love most about it? It isn't the terms - 3 years, $27 million - that frees up a tremendous amount of cap space. It isn't that the Patriots now have Brady under contract until he's 40. It isn't that he is now going to retire a Patriot and we likely won't have to go through what Colts fans went through when Peyton Manning got shipped off to Denver.

Last season, at age 35, Brady led the Patriots to the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs and a trip to the AFC Championship game. In the regular season, the Patriots went 12-4 under Brady. He completed 63 percent of his passes for 4,827 yards and 34 touchdowns. He threw just eight interceptions.