Tom Brady on NFL franchise values rising: The players better wake up
Tamp Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady has always been one of the most passionate and intense players in the National Football League. It’s that same unrelenting intensity that has propelled him to seven Super Bowl trophies.
That passion and intensity has carried over to the media, where Brady has not been shy about sharing his opinions on a variety of topics. Whenever he speaks, he’s careful to not say anything that could divide or disrupt his locker room.
He recently made some comments to his fellow players about the value of NFL franchises rising, according to Pro Football Talk. Below is the quote he posted to his Instagram story.
Brady was venting about the fact that Forbes estimated the average value of NFL franchises has risen by 14% in the last year, despite a 20% drop in revenue.
“The salary cap dropped by 20% and the new media deals were announced the day after 2021 salary cap was set,” Brady wrote. “NFL players better wake up. NFL players are ignorant.”
The National Football League is big-time business.
Most sports fans know that. The NFL signed a media rights deal in March from 2023-2033 worth $111.8 billion. That amount nearly doubled the value of the NFL’s previous media rights deal.
There’s a good reason that kind of money is being thrown at NFL rights; a massive audience. The 2021 Super Bowl had 96.4 million viewers tune in to watch Tom Brady win his seventh ring. The crazy thing about that stat — it was the lowest number of people watching the Super Bowl since 2007.
Tom Brady’s point
Brady was just telling the rest of the players they need to understand their market value. With the value of franchises rising and the salary cap shrinking, Brady just wants players to understand they deserve a bigger piece of the pie. The NFLPA might need to re-negotiate with the NFL ownership. He didn’t say that, but that’s what he’s implying in his post.
Did he change his mind?
However, the current deal is what the majority of players agreed upon with the owners in the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement, per Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.
Also, when the latest CBA was signed, Brady complimented the Executive Director of the NFL Players Association, DeMaurice Smith, on the deal. So Brady’s recent comments contradict his previous tweet. You can see the tweet below, when the deal was signed in March of 2020.
The current Collective Bargaining Agreement for the NFL expires after the 2030 season.