Now that Tom Brady has officially retired (again), all eyes turn to what the Bucs will do next as they prepare for 2023. The cap implications of Brady’s retirement come down to two options for the Bucs and general manager Jason Licht and director of football administration Mike Greenberg.

Working With Brady Bucs Can Reduce His Cap Hit

If Brady is so inclined, he can agree to hold off on processing his retirement paperwork until after June 1st, while also signing an un-guaranteed placeholder contract to keep him “with the team” until that time.

Okay, now what to do if Brady leaves. I believe if he retires he will work with the team to allow them to post 6/1 him. This means his cap hit in ’23 goes from $35.1M to $10.8M clearing $24.3M. They would still be on the hook for that $24.3M in ’24 though. https://t.co/ezgIIH44ni

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) January 17, 2023

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: USA Today

That contract would allow Tampa Bay to carry Brady on the roster through the beginning of the league year, and more importantly through the first wave of free agency, with a cap charge as low as $11,941,000.

Following June first, Brady could then process his retirement paperwork with the league. At that point the placeholder salary would fall off, leaving the Bucs on the hook for just a $10,776,000 dead cap charge in 2023. They would also have to account for a $24,328,000 dead cap charge in 2024 as well.

With the way the salary cap has increased each year coming out of the 2020 Covid season (the salary cap just jumped from $208.2 million in 2022 to $224.8 million this upcoming year), this would allow the team to more easily manage the dead cap hit.

This course of action would be similar to what Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints did following the 2020 season when Brees retired.

What Happens If Brady Processes His Retirement Immediately?

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

If Brady does n0t agree to the above plan the Bucs will be responsible for the entirety of his $35,104,000 dead cap this year. With the team currently projected to be $55 million over the cap per overthecap.com, it certainly would be the least preferable course of action for the team. However, given the reportedly great relationship between Brady and the Glazer family this also looks to be the least likely outcome as well.

No matter which route the Bucs and Brady choose to go with, we will know soon enough. The new league year for the NFL is March 15th at 4:00 p.m, and the Bucs have to be cap-compliant by the start of it. That means they will have to know how they are accounting for Brady’s retirement by that time.