Reports: Patriots QB Tom Brady still set to become free agent in 2020 despite new contract
Tom Brady, for the first time in his career, may become a free agent.
According to a report from the NFL Network, Brady’s revised contract gave him a raise, but it also offered two years that automatically void after the 2019 season as well as a provision that doesn’t allow the Patriots to slap the franchise or transition tag on him for the 2020 season.
That means that once the 2019 league year officially ends on March 17, 2020, Brady could become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career.
The Patriots and Brady, though, do appear to have the option of negotiating a new deal prior to the start of the 2020 league year, which – if completed – would take Brady off the market. According to Pro Football Talk, Brady’s revised deal falls outside of the category of contracts that can’t be renegotiated for at least one calendar year.
One other way that Brady could avoid free agency is if he decides to walk away and retire from the NFL. That might be extremely unlikely, however, given his recent comments and hints that he intends to play until around the time he turns 45.
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According to multiple reports, the Patriots bumped Brady’s pay from $15 million to $23 million for this season, providing a similar result to the re-worked contract Drew Brees reached with the New Orleans Saints.
Now New England has the option of seeing how Brady performs in 2019 and whether his age (he turned 42 on Saturday) is finally catching up to him before deciding what to do in the future.
“It's really the reality for most guys in the NFL,” Brady said Monday of playing on a year-to-year basis. “I don't want to think I'm any different than anyone else. Football is a tough business. It's a production business. I'm ready to go this year, and that's really what matters, and that's where my focus is. It's a unique situation I'm in – my 20th year with the same team and 42 years old. Pretty much unchartered territory for everybody and I'm going to go out there and be the best I can this year and see what happens.”
Follow Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes.