Brady’s official decision may come after he gets his signing bonus

The (speculated?) news of Tom Brady retiring hit the news cycle Saturday by the big names in media. Later it was refuted that no, Brady has not in fact decided on retiring. We’ve seen that come from his agent as well as from his father and also Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht reportedly saying he has not decided yet.

So which is it? Is he retiring or is he playing another season?

ESPN is standing by their reporting and NFL.com is saying the future Hall of Fame quarterback is indeed “planning” on retiring. Perhaps he is, but the reasons why it’s not official yet is that he is waiting for one final financial piece of the puzzle to hit before making it official.

According to Spotrac via Fox Business, Brady is due some big money this coming week.

According to Spotrac, $15 million of Brady’s $20 million signing bonus was deferred to Feb. 4, 2022. If Brady retires before Friday, he will give up the bonus money. Should Brady decide to continue to the 2022 season, Spotrac notes his entire salary would be guaranteed but voided if he decides to retire.

The 44-year-old could certainly be leaning towards calling it quits. After all, he has had a very successful career. However, he may just be waiting for one last very nice sized chunk of change before saying he’s done.

And he’s earned that.