Patriots Mailbag: You’ll Never Guess How Much Tom Brady Makes Every Time He Steps in the Huddle

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Jun 3, 2011

Patriots Mailbag: You'll Never Guess How Much Tom Brady Makes Every Time He Steps in the Huddle Do you know how much money Tom Brady makes every time he steps in the huddle? Well, you’ve come to the right place. It’s time for this week’s Patriots mailbag. Thanks to everyone who submitted a question.

Does the NFL, or any professional league, realize that it’s the fans that own them? Or do they actually know this, but also know that we will never organize and do anything about it? The Pats are coming to Denver this year, and my fan club (Pikes Peak Pats) are going to go; the seats the Broncos have for us are $260. I will not be going. I’m self-employed (Mile High Whoopie Pie Company) and I have to sell a lot of Whoopies to make $260! I think Brady makes that per huddle, or damn close to it! I kind of put a question in there, but I think this is more just me venting. It’s disgusting what the NFL is doing.
—Mike B

Thanks for the thoughts, Mike. Like you said, there really wasn’t a question in there, but I thought I could dig up some very interesting information about the amount of money Brady makes per huddle. And it’s a whole heck of a lot more than $260 a pop.

Let’s start with this: The Patriots ran 986 offensive plays in 2010, and aside from a handful of plays for backup quarterback Brian Hoyer, Brady was on the field almost exclusively. Since it would take hours to figure out how many snaps Hoyer took, let’s just give all 986 to Brady, for the sake of the argument anyway. (Besides, with the no-huddle offense and huddles that were negated by timeouts and the like, it’s all relative anyway.)

Pro Football Talk reported Brady made $26.5 million during the 2010 season. Keep in mind, it was an extremely rare year for him because he signed a new contract, and there were a lot of moving parts with his salary and bonuses. (Brady’s original salary for 2010 was set to be $3.5 million before he signed his new deal.) PFT also reported in the same story that he’ll make about $10 million in 2011, which is a great year for any human being, but nowhere close to the astronomical figure of $26.5 million.

So, if you take $26.5 million and divide it by 986 offensive plays, Brady made $26,876.27 per huddle in 2010. As for 2011, let’s take $10 million and divide it by a nice round number of 1,000 offensive plays, and Brady will project to make $10,000 per huddle.

How would you feel if the Patriots went after Mike Sims-Walker through free agency after the lockout ends? He was a solid receiver for the Jaguars and is still young. Do you think he would fit in well with the Patriots?
–Connor

I really like Sims-Walker as a player, although he had a poor season in 2010. He was actually a more heavily-touted player at Central Florida than teammate Brandon Marshall, but Sims-Walker had injury issues that have plagued him throughout his career. He’s a very good outside receiver with big-play potential, and I think he could thrive in New England’s offense.

However, there was a report in March that claimed Sims-Walker couldn’t adjust to different defenses that pressed him, complained about a lack of catches, even after victories, and was suspended for a game for blowing off curfew to party all night. If any of that is true, you can bet he won’t end up with the Patriots.

I actually wouldn’t be surprised if Sims-Walker reunited with Marshall in Miami. That move would make a lot of sense for all involved.

What will the roles out of the backfield be next season for the new running back staff?
–Griffin

While knowing that Belichick will always ride the hot hand, the roles appear to be easily definable right now, at least on paper. BenJarvus Green-Ellis will be the prototypical starter, and Stevan Ridley should serve as his backup in short-yardage situations or when the Patriots need to gain yards between the tackles. Kevin Faulk (if he returns), Danny Woodhead and Shane Vereen will split time in passing situations and on third down. All three are most effective in space, and they’re all good pass catchers. Vereen might be the biggest wildcard in the group because he could be better between the tackles than any of us realize.

I know many are disappointed with the draft, but I believe the reason we didn’t draft a pass rusher is because Bill Belichick sees a better one for the team in next year’s draft. Remember, Bill Belichick is friends with Alabama head coach Nick Saban, and they have impressive linemen entering the draft next year. Do you think Belichick just didn’t like the talent in this year’s draft and is waiting until next year?
–Matt

I’ve already spent a ton of time going through Belichick’s trends with pass rushers, both on the field and with his approach to the draft, so I’ll pass on that this time. However, I can say with 100 percent certainty that Belichick didn’t take a wait-’til-next year approach with that position in this draft class. It’s nearly impossible to set yourself up to take a specific player a full year away from the draft.

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