Bucs Brady Inks Extension, Says 'We're Keeping The Band Together'

TAMPA, FLA. — After winning his seventh Super Bowl, Tom Brady is ready for more and is anxious to bring another championship to Tampa.

That was the future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback’s message on Friday when he agreed to a four-year contract extension with the Buccaneers. The team announced the extension on Friday but details of the deal were not announced. ESPN reported, however, that the four-year deal voids the two-year contract the 43-year-old Brady signed with the Buccaneers. In his first season with the team, Brady led Tampa to a Super Bowl title over the Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium.

The deal will keep Brady in Tampa through the 2022 season and is expected to save the team about $19 million in salary cap room, according to ESPN.

“When we acquired Tom a year ago, we were extremely excited about the leadership, poise and winning track record that he would bring to our locker room. Since that time, he has proven himself to be the ultimate competitor and delivered in every way we had imagined, helping us capture the Lombardi Trophy," Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht said in a statement Friday. "Year after year, Tom proves that he remains one of the elite quarterbacks in this game and we couldn't be happier to keep him in Tampa Bay as we continue to pursue our goals together."

Brady posted a photo of himself signing the contract extension on Instagram on Friday. In the post, Brady – who has appeared in 11 Super Bowls and won seven – said of remaining with the Buccaneers “we’re keeping the band together.”

By agreeing to the deal, Brady has essentially added an additional two years onto the $50 million contract he signed after leaving the New England Patriots. ESPN reported that the deal also allows Brady to only cost $9 million against the $182.5 million salary cap for 2021. Under his previous deal, Brady would have counted more than $28 million against the cap.

Licht said on the Rich Eisen Show after the Super Bowl victory that the team hoped to keep Brady in place. He said that Brady likes the coaching staff and ownership group and that the Bucs “certainly love him.” The general manager called the relationship a “match made in heaven.”

Brady said that he would like to keep playing football until age 45, which makes the extension in line with that goal. ESPN reported that three years of the extension are voidable after the 2022 season. After the Super Bowl win, Brady told reporters he would consider playing beyond 45.

This past season, Brady threw for 40 touchdown passes during the regular season, which was the most he had thrown in a season since 2007. He also threw for 4,633 passing yards before capping the season with the championship victory. Now, he appears ready for more with reportedly no end in sight — at least for now.

"It's a physical sport and you never know when that moment is," Brady told reporters after the Super Bowl. "Just because it's a contact sport and there's a lot of training that goes into it. And again there has to be 100% commitment from myself to keep doing it."