Tom Brady's new contract

Most of the time when a player says it's not all about the money the statement is taken with a grain of salt.  Unless of course that player in Tom Brady.

The New England Patriots reached an agreement with their star quarterback on a 3 year, $27 million extension that will keep Brady with the team through the 2017 season.  The team friendly deal saves the Patriots millions in cap space, which can be used to fill in other holes on the roster to give the team the best chance to win another ring while Brady is still in his prime.

To be clear, contrary to popular belief, Brady isn't actually losing any money from his previous contract.  Brady still had two years remaining on the four year, $72 million deal he signed back in 2010 that made him the league's highest paid QB at the time, with an average annual value of $18 million per season.  He was scheduled to have a cap figure of $21.8 million in each of the next two seasons.  This extension spreads some of that money over five years instead of two, reducing the cap hit to $14.8 this year and $13.8 next year.  With the league's salary cap not expected to rise in the next couple of seasons, the $15 million in cap savings over the next two years will help the Patriots spend that money on the rest of the roster. 

The extension includes a $3 million signing bonus along with salaries of $7 million in 2015, $8 million in 2016 and $9 million in 2017.  That's a very team friendly deal when you consider what other top QBs are making.  Peyton Manning is making $18 million a year and Drew Brees is up around $20 million.  Despite a fairly mediocre career, Joe Flacco is now seeking that kind of money on his next deal following his team's Super Bowl victory.  The list of the highest paid players in the league includes QBs that have been in sharp decline, like Philip Rivers ($15.3 million), or ones that have yet to earn that type of salary, such as Sam Bradford ($15.5 million - the last #1 overall pick to sign prior to the league's new rookie pay scale).  Even when you factor in some of the bonus money from his last contract that has been pushed back into those final three years, he won't be making that kind of money.  However, there are other factors to consider. 

First of all, Brady's new contract is fully guaranteed.  Some of the other names on that list won't necessarily receive all of the money their contracts say they'll earn if their team decides to cut their losses and move on.  Under the old contract, Brady was guaranteed $30 million over the next two seasons.  This deal increases that guaranteed figure by almost double, to $57 million over 5 years, giving him greater financial security to protect him in the event of a career ending injury or substantial erosion of his skills as he ages.  Brady will be 40 years old when this new deal expires.  He expects to be able to play until then, but that doesn't mean he'll still be playing at his usual high level by then.  He looks like an extreme bargain at that salary now, while he's still a viable MVP candidate, but that probably won't be the case by the end of the contract.  He may not even be at that level in two years, when the extension officials kicks in.  That's why it's so important to free up cap space in these next two years to give the Patriots a chance to win now before Brady's inevitable decline.

Brady got the sweet taste of success early in his career, winning three Super Bowl titles in a four year span after becoming the starter in New England.  Since then he's felt the sting of two Super Bowl losses that still eat away at him.  He wants nothing more than to turn his playoff fortunes around and cement his legacy with a fourth Super Bowl ring, but he's wise enough to know that at this point in his career he can't do it alone.  His trust that the team's brain trust of Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick will use the extra money he saved them to improve the roster around him is what made this deal possible.  The Patriots would have been hard pressed to re-sign all of their own impending free agents, such as Wes Welker, Aqib Talib and Sebastian Vollmer, let alone find additional pieces to improve last year's team that came up short in the AFC Championship game.  Brady has granted them the flexibility to do that.

A player of Brady's caliber could easily have commanded more money on the open market, which may not sit well with the NFLPA (although Brady will counter that by taking less, it means other players can be paid more).  That doesn't matter to him though.  He's made plenty of money in his career already and could make a lot more in endorsements if he wanted to (he turns down plenty of offers).  Plus, it's not as if he's the real bread winner in his household anyway.  When Brady says money isn't as important as winning, he means it.

Tom Brady is one of the league's few selfless players, willing to put the good of the team ahead of himself.  That's part of what makes him so great, because all he cares about is winning.  The rest of the league should take note.  Not only is this guy a true class act, he also knows what it takes to win.

In the end, winning is all that matters.  Money only lasts for as long as it takes to spend it, but a legacy lasts forever.

NBA Trade Deadline Deals

For all the hype leading up to it this week, this year's NBA trade deadline turned out to be a mild disappointment.  There were plenty of big names being flouted around the rumor mill in recent weeks, but most of them ended up staying put.  Even the teams expected to be the most likely to make an impact move ultimately remained quiet at the deadline.  That's the thing about trades - it takes two to tango.  Just because it makes perfect sense to try to move a player, doesn't mean you'll find a willing dance partner.  Trading a valuable asset for the sake of making a move is typically worse than not making any move at all.

When JJ Redick is the biggest name to switch teams, it's fair to say the deadline was lacking in blockbuster headlines, but that doesn't mean there weren't any relevant deals worth discussing.  Several teams made moves that either improve their fortunes for this season or for the future.

Memphis Grizzlies send Rudy Gay and Hamed Haddadi to the Toronto Raptors for Ed Davis, Jose Calderon and a second round pick.  Toronto sends Calderon to the Detroit Pistons for Tayshaun Prince and Austin Daye.

Ok, I'm cheating a little here since this trade happened about three weeks ago, but it helped jump start the league's trading season.  Memphis knew the day would come when they'd be forced to make some tough decisions about the core of their team given that they aren't willing to pay the luxury tax.  While Gay was their leading scorer, his inefficient shooting and overpriced contract made him the most expendable.  Ridding themselves of the burden of that contract can be considered a win in the long term, but it makes less sense that they moved him now instead of this summer considering they had just sacrificed their first round draft pick to dump the salaries of two bench players (Ellington, Speights) to get under the tax for this year.  Davis was flourishing with the Raptors this season, but now finds himself stuck in a crowded frontcourt behind Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, limiting his value to the Grizzlies.  This move has to be viewed as a step back for their chances to contend this season given that Prince can't come close to replacing Gay's scoring, even if their offense does get a slight boost by spreading shots around to more efficient shooters.

The deal makes less sense for Toronto, who clearly were desperate to acquire a star (or at least someone that's paid like a star).  Calderon's expiring contract had to be moved for something of value if the Raptors were going to commit to Kyle Lowry as their starting point guard and despite his improvement this season, they have enough depth up front to part with Davis.  I'm just not convinced Gay is the right fit for them.  He's played well since his arrival in Toronto, averaging over 20 points per game, but he's also taking more shots than he was in Memphis and is shooting a miserable 37% from the field so far.  He also essentially duplicates what they already had in DeMar DeRozen, which may make them regret giving him that big extension last summer.  Most people thought it was a terrible idea at the time, but the addition of Gay makes it look even worse.  They have similar styles of play and neither of them is an effective outside shooter, making them tough to pair together on the wing.  Having a big man that can shoot, like Andrea Bargnani, would help space the floor, if only Bargnani was actually hitting shots this year.  Toronto may have gotten the biggest name in the deal, but that doesn't mean they've improved because of it.  Free agents aren't exactly flocking north of the border, so making a bold move to acquire a potential star player is a move teams like the Raptors sometimes have to make.  It just makes a lot less sense given the previous moves they've made.

Meanwhile, Detroit adds a needed play maker in Calderon while unloading the last two years of Prince's contract.  That allows them to give more minutes to younger players and gives them more financial flexibility for the future.

NBA Trade Deadline

With the NBA trade deadline only a week away, the rumor mill is heating up.  Teams looking to make a playoff push will try to add the missing piece they hope puts them over the top, while teams on their way out of contention are looking to shed salaries and pick up useful assets to build for the future. 

As always, there are plenty of big names that may be on the market if the price is right.  The Grizzlies sending Rudy Gay to Toronto marked the first big move of the season, but there could be more stars changing addresses this week.  Let's check the temperature on some of these rumors to see how likely these stars are to be on the move.

Kevin Garnett & Paul Pierce, Boston Celtics

When Rajon Rondo went down for the season with a torn ACL, many believed it marked the end of Boston's run as a legitimate contender in the East.  Since then, the Celtics have won 8 of their last 9 games to head into the All-Star break as one of the league's hottest teams, which may make Danny Ainge reconsider any thoughts of breaking up the core of this team.  While most of the league may have counted them out and expect them to ship out their future Hall of Famers, we all said the same thing last year and this team ended up in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals (granted that was with a healthy Rondo).

If either player were to be made available there would surely be interest, but finding a trade partner could be problematic.  For one thing, Garnett has a no trade clause that he claims he's not willing to waive.  Perhaps he could be talked into a trade to the Clippers.  Considering he spends his off-seasons by the beach in Malibu, a move to LA could be a seamless transition as he winds down his career.  The Clippers could offer hot shot point guard prospect Eric Bledsoe and athletic big man DeAndre Jordan in return.

The Clippers have shown interest in Pierce as well, so if KG is off the table they could work a similar trade for Pierce by offering Bledsoe, Caron Butler and Lamar Odom's expiring deal.  That offer would be pretty underwhelming since Butler still has another year left on his overpriced contract.  It also remains to be seen how high Boston's interest in Bledsoe is.  He'd fill in nicely the rest of this year, but what about next year when Rondo comes back?  Bledsoe will be a restricted free agent after next season and it's hard to imagine Boston committing big money to him long term unless they expect to deal Rondo at some point as well.  That won't be happening anytime soon considering he's still recovering from knee surgery.

Things I Noticed: Super Bowl XLVII

This is it!  The big game, the big dance.  This one's for all the marbles.  Find any other cliche you like and throw that in too.  It's Super Bowl Sunday!

The Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers meet in the Superdome in New Orleans to crown a champion for this season.  Regardless of which team you pledge your allegiance to, every football fan watches the Super Bowl.  It's a time for friends to gather for a night of wings, beer and football!  It's practically a national holiday in this country (which is why I still stand behind the idea that everyone should get the next day off from work.  Seriously, Obama claims to be a big sports fan, but hasn't figured out a solution to this yet?). 

Oh, and for those that only watch the Super Bowl for the commercials, don't worry.  I noticed some of those too!

Here are some things I noticed this week:

• This year's match up features the first ever Super Bowl battle between two head coaches that are brothers.  Harbaugh Bowl grabbed most of the headlines heading into this week.  Well, most of the ones that didn't involve Ray Lewis anyway.

• In case you didn't hear, Lewis plans to retire after this season.  He announced his impending retirement prior to the postseason, fueling Baltimore's improbable run to the Super Bowl.  Each week this postseason the Ravens have played without knowing if this would be the last game of Lewis' illustrious career.  Finally now we know, win or lose, this is it.
• Lewis missed most of the second half of the season with a torn triceps injury.  Knowing this was his final season, Lewis was determined to get back on the field just in time for the postseason to join his team for their playoff run.  An injury that typically takes at least 6 months to recover from, Lewis was amazingly able to return from in only about 2 months.  Wait, that actually sounds a little suspicious...
• Before we kick things off, this year's inductees into the Football Hall of Fame are introduced on the field.  This year's group includes Warren Sapp, Chris Carter, Larry Allen, Jonathan Ogden, Bill Parcels, Curley Culp, and Dave Robinson. 
• Baltimore wins the coins toss and elects to defer to the second half.  Anyone that bet heads on a prop bet is already excited about how this game is going!