Will Belichick Dump Tom Brady?

Will Belichick Dump Tom Brady?

by Bill Russo

retired editor of several 

Newspapers in New England

Not every football fan in the United States will agree that Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback in NFL history, but even his most severe critics do not think that he’s only the 43^rd best player in the league.

And yet, that’s how the New England Patriots value the man who has been their starting quarterback for 17 years, and who led them to nine Super Bowls, with six victories.

There are almost four dozen NFL players (as of the 2018 season) who make more money than Number 12, and I’ll bet you five bucks you’ve never even heard of some of them.

Tom Brady made 20 million dollars in 2018.  His base salary was 15 million dollars the rest of the money came from bonuses.

According to SB Nation, there were more than 40 players making more than Brady’s base figure and 16 that made more than 20 million.  Some of these guys are hardly household names.

How well do you know Khalil Mack (41 million) or Aaron Donald (40 million) or Alex Smith (40 million)?

  

How about Jimmy Garappolo,  the young phenom the Patriots chose not to keep?  He made over 27 million last season!

Here are a few more players who make far more money than Brady the B-O-A-T: the Best Of All Time – Aaron Rodgers (33.5 mil), Matt Ryan (30 mil), Kirk Cousins (28 Mil), and Matt Stafford (27 Mil).

The NFL considers itself the premiere sport of the United States, yet even the regional sport of Hockey pays its top star more than Tom makes.  Somebody named Connor McDavid makes 19 million.  John Tavares is paid 17 million and Sidney Crosby’s salary is over 16 million – and this from a sport that didn’t even have a national television contract until the 1980s.

In baseball the 24^th highest salary of 24 million dollars goes to J.D. Martinez of the Boston Red Sox.  His paycheck is dwarfed by team-mate, David Price who gets 31 million as well as by Chris Sale who will make 30 million for the 2020 season, even if he doesn’t pitch a single inning!  Baseball pays its top earner, Stephen Straussberg, 38 million a year.

Basketball is even more extravagant.  A check of the NBA reveals that its 43^rd highest paid player, Giannis Antetokounmpo at 27.5 mil makes almost twice as much his NFL counterpart, Tom Brady.

Twenty NBA players, many of whom you have never heard of , make between 30 and 40 mil a year!  Almost three dozen more make between 20 and 29.9 mil per season!  

The 43^rd highest paid pro baskeball ball athlete is Marc Gasol of Toronto and he makes six million more than Tom Brady. 

To match up Tom’s paycheck to a basketball player’s, you’ll have to dive down to the 53^rd highest paid player in the NBA.  A guy named Malcom Brogdon draws 20 mil from the Indiana Pacers.

Only soccer, which has some 24 teams in the MLS, pays its stars less than Tom Brady.  The top players of the American soccer league, which has yet to really catch hold in the states, make between 7 and 8 million a year – about equal to a fair to middling relief pitcher in baseball. 

Worldwide however, Soccer (called  Football or ‘Futbol’ in in most of the world) pays its top tier competitors very well, with Ronaldo Messi the highest compensated player.  He makes a whopping 93 million a year!

Should the fans of New England start a Go Fund Me for Tom Brady? 

I think that the answer to that question lies in Tom’s team mentality.  He’s taken a slew of pay reductions designed to allow the team to stay competitive.  It’s very obvious that money has never been his top consideration.

Tom has been more than willing to assist the team over the years – but you have to wonder how much that will mean to Coach Belichick.  The wiley ol’ sourpuss has unceremoniously dumped a number of stars from the team when he felt they were on the downslide.
  

What about Tom?  Will we soon see Brady in a Colts uniform with another Belichick cast-off - Adam Vinatieri, the 46 year old place kicking hero of three Patriot Super Bowls? 

Time will tell, but Belichick won't and neither will the B.O.A.T.

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by Bill Russo

author of the Ghosts of Cape Cod, Jimmy Catfish,

the Creature from the Bridgewater Triangle and other books

available from all on-line retailers.