Brady coy about if he deserves extension: 'Should we take a poll?'
Tom Brady led the New England Patriots to their sixth Super Bowl title in February, but the star quarterback hasn't received an extension in return, and he's now entering a contract year.
When asked Wednesday if he's earned a new deal, Brady let the question hang in the air.
"Have I earned it? I don't know. That's up for talk-show debate. What do you guys think? Should we take a poll? Talk to Mr. (Robert) Kraft, c'mon," Brady said with a smile after practice, according to Andrew Callahan of MassLive.com. "No, like I said, we've got a great relationship. So we'll see how it goes."
Brady is set to earn a $14-million base salary in 2019, far below the market rate for a franchise quarterback. Prior to last season, the Patriots added five $1-million incentives to the 14-time Pro Bowler's contract (Brady hit none of them).
The future Hall of Famer will turn 42 years old in August. He's shown few signs of decline aside from producing his worst passer rating since 2014 last season and throwing his most interceptions since 2013. There's simply no precedent for how to pay a quarterback his age who's still performing close to an All-Pro level.
Brady carries a $27 million cap hit in 2019, the largest of his storied career, according to Over The Cap. New England could be motivated to extend its signal-caller and lower that number.
If the Patriots let Brady - who has signed multiple discount deals in the past - play out his contract with the intention of using the franchise tag on him in 2020, that would cost the reigning champions $32.4 million (only Matt Ryan, Ben Roethlisberger, and Aaron Rodgers are projected to carry higher cap hits).
Brady praised head coach Bill Belichick and Kraft, saying that "hopefully we can keep it going." However, he sidestepped a question about being open to playing on year-to-year contracts.
"I mean, we're all day-to-day, if you think about it," Brady said. "None of us are really promised anything. So I'm trying to do the best I can today and let those things sort themselves out."
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