Brady Gives Bucs One More Present Heading Out the Door

Good evening, folks. As you all know (unless you’ve been living under a rock), Tom Brady retired for the second straight offseason in a row on February 1st. And yes Bucs’ fans, this time it appears to be for real. Well, at least I think it is. Some would argue with me that they need to see it to believe it, which is fair.

Brady’s retirement gives the Bucs significant salary cap relief in 2023

The running joke among New Orleans, Atlanta, and Carolina fans on social media is the Bucs’ purportedly-precarious salary cap situation. The Bucs sit at over $55 million over the salary cap per OverTheCap.com. Now, with the Brady announcement, Tampa Bay can reduce Brady’s $35 million-dollar cap hit to $11 million in 2023 and $24 million in 2024, which reduces the team’s amount over the cap by 44%.

That’s a heck of a goodbye present from Brady to the Bucs. Had he signed with another team, that would have put the entire $35 million on the Bucs’ salary cap figure for 2023, and restructuring deals and/or cutting players to be able to get under the figure while also addressing roster needs would have been very daunting.

Now, Jason Licht and his team of wizard capologists can work to put a competitive roster together to again contend for what should be a very winnable NFC South division.

Thank you, Tom. For the amazing three years, a Super Bowl championship, an unforgettable boat parade…and a little bit of help for the 2023 season.