After 544 days, Deflategate is finally over.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady announced on Friday that he's giving up on the legal fight he's been pursuing ever since NFL commissioner Roger Goodell hit hit him with a four-game suspension over Deflategate. Brady's legal surrender means that he's now officially going to miss the first four games of the NFL season.
That's the bad news for Brady.
The good news for Brady is that, thanks to some smart planning, he's going to save some serious money during his suspension.
When the Patriots quarterback restructured his contract back in March, he added two-years to the deal, which wasn't that notable. The notable part is that Brady cut his 2016 base salary down from $9 million to $1 million.
You read that right: Brady's base salary in 2016 is only $1 million.
The salary reduction was smart because Brady will miss out on four game checks during his suspension, and the savvy move means that Brady will only lose out on roughly $235,000 while he's out. If Brady hadn't restructured his deal, he would've missed out on $2.118 million in total pay for the four weeks he sat out.
That's a difference of $1.88 million, meaning that $1.88 million will go in Brady's bank account that wouldn't have been there if he hadn't restructured his deal.
By the way, you don't need to feel sorry for Brady and his $1 million base salary in 2016. The quarterback's new deal also included a $28 million signing bonus, which means Patriots owner Robert Kraft cut Brady a $28 million check shortly after the deal was signed in March. So for 2016, Brady will take home $28 million in bonus money and only $765,000 in salary ($1 million base salary minus the $235,000 he loses to the suspension)
Brady also has a $1 million base salary in 2017, before the deal jumps to a $14 million base salary for both 2018 and 2019.
