$100m deal for Patriots game boy

13 April 2012

Tom Brady, the quarterback who led the New England Patriots to victory over the St Louis Rams and became the Most Valuable Player in Super Bowl XXXVI, is poised to cash in on his success.

At 24, Brady is the youngest ever quarterback to win the National Football League's big game, but he did so on the basic minimum wage for his position in the NFL, around $250,000 (£175,000) plus bonuses.

But that will change in the coming months when he sits down with his team's owners to thrash out a new deal for the 2002/2003 season.

Maybe not quite the $103m (£75m) his team-mate and fellow quarterback Drew Bledsoe can earn over the next 10 years, but something close. First, the Patriots have to solve a dilemma involving the two stars. Bledsoe, who guided the Patriots to the 1997 Super Bowl, where they lost to the Green Bay Packers, became the NFL's highest paid player, both annually on $10m (£7m) a year, and in terms of the overall size of his deal when he put pen to paper.

But after getting injured earlier in the season he was replaced by Brady, who began this season as the fourth choice passer on Patriot's roster.

Brady improved with every game, but had to leave the field with a knee injury in the American Football Conference Championship game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, one of the NFL's Super Bowl semi-finals. Bledsoe came on as a substitute for him and guided the Patriots to a win over the Steelers and a place in the Super Bowl. Brady, however, recovered in time and his head coach, Bill Belichick, opted to start with him against the Rams. The rest is history.

Now, in order to comply with the NFL's strict policy on player salaries, called the salary cap, the Patriots may have to let Bled-soe leave in order to negotiate a new deal with Brady, and other star players, to keep under the NFL imposed pay ceiling.

There'll be plenty of takers for Bledsoe, but they'll have to match that $103m. There will also be plenty of takers for Brady now, in terms of companies wanting him to endorse their products. He's a wholesome, all-American boy. Just what the ad men want.

For his part in the play-off wins over the Oakland Raiders and the Steelers, Brady picked up a win bonus of $25,000 (£18,000) per game. For winning the Super Bowl he gets $63,000 (£45,000). Players on the losing team collect $34,500 (£24,000) and the NFL's bill for both teams comes to $6m (£4m).

Brady is now in the same position losing Super Bowl quarterback Kurt Warner of the Rams was in after he helped his team win the big game two seasons ago. He had come in for injured first-choice quarterback Trent Green while Green was on the big money and Warner was on the basic.

The Rams quickly signed Warner to a $48m (£34m), seven-year deal and Green was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Warner was signed up to help sell Warner Crunch breakfast cereal and Milk. Brady can expect the same.

He's in the money, but spare a thought for an ordinary guy who missed out on a fortune. Randy Rial, a 41-year-old from Battle Creek, Michigan, got the chance to kick a field goal for $1m (£714,000) on Super Bowl Sunday.

Having kicked a high school record 37-yarder as a teenager and after sending over 30-yarders in practice all week leading up to the big kick, under pressure he put the ball wide by five feet and got just $10,000 (£7,000).

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$100m deal for Patriots game boy

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