The Tampa Bay Buccaneers handled some administrative work on Friday, inking quarterback Tom Brady to a contract extension that will keep him with the team through 2022. Brady had signed a two-year deal last year through 2021, and was due $15,000,000 in base salary and $3,375,000 in other bonus money.
Adam Schefter is reporting the deal is technically a four-year extension, but it voids to what is effectively a one-year extension. The voided years are dummy years that allow a signing bonus to be prorated out over multiple years. The Bucs will have to deal with the salary cap effects eventually, but this buys them more time.
Brady has shown no signs of slowing down, but this was as much about clearing cap space as anything else. The Bucs entered the day $6,397,600 over the salary cap, according to the NFLPA public salary cap report. Teams have until Wednesday afternoon to get under the cap for their Top 51 contracts.