The salary cap is something that every team has to deal with. Player salaries and how they are structured are often very complicated and can change depending on what happens to a player. Here are the salary cap implications of Tom Brady‘s retirement.
Salary Cap Implications Of Tom Brady’s Retirement
Regardless of what Tom Brady decided to do next year, the Bucs owed Brady $35 million. The advantage of his retiring is they can spread that over the next two years rather than have lumped into one. The adjustment will most likely mean that Bucs will pay $11 million in 2023 and $24 million in 2024. While the 2024 cap hit is painful, it is at least better than $35 million.
The Bucs Are Way Over The Cap
This matters because of the Bucs’ cap situation. Even with only taking an $11 million hit from Brady’s contract, the Bucs are still $30 million over the cap. This isn’t really a surprise as when Brady was brought in, Tampa Bay went into a win-now mode. The issue with the short-term planning model is at some point, you have to pay for what you have done. The Bucs will have to restructure or cut players in order to fit under the cap but Brady’s retirement helps.
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The salary cap implications of Tom Brady’s retirement are significant. It could help the Bucs reload a little faster than if they had to take on all the money at once. The Bucs are now one of the most intriguing offseason teams as they have a lot of retooling to do.