The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are holding off on filing Tom Brady’s retirement until June 2 (at the earliest) — and for good reason. That dead cap hit from Brady’s retirement will be spread out over two years if Tampa Bay places Brady on the reserve/retired list after June 1, which is set to be an amount of $32 million.
That number has significantly shrunk, thanks to a contract provision in Brady’s deal as a result of his retirement. Per Greg Auman of The Athletic, the Buccaneers will have a $17 million dead cap hit spread out over two seasons — instead of $32 million.
Brady was set to receive a $15 million bonus paid in February, which the contract allowed for Buccaneers to ask for $16 million to be repaid — if Brady retired. Brady’s retirement sent the $15 million back, cutting the dead cap hit from $32 million to $17 million. The Buccaneers still plan to spread the $17 million dead cap hit over the next two seasons.
The Buccaneers will save significant amounts of salary cap space in 2022 and 2023 as a result of the contract allocation. Of course, Brady is still under contract with the team (should he choose to return).
Even if Brady decided to play for another organization, his contract wouldn’t be as severe should a team decide to take on his salary. A post-June 1 designated trade would save the Buccaneers $12,270,588 in salary cap space while the team that takes on Brady’s current salary isn’t paying him that $15 million bonus.
If Brady decides to play for another team in 2022 or later, the pieces to the puzzle are much easier to figure out. There’s a way for Brady and the Buccaneers to both get what they want, no matter what the quarterback decides.
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