Could Tom Brady Contract Details Explain Retirement Uncertainty?

Tom Brady has the NFL world on the edge of its seat.

Early Saturday afternoon, Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington of ESPN reported that Brady has decided to retire after 22 remarkable seasons. However, after a few hours of deleted TB12 tweets, statements from Tom Brady Sr. and reports from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, nobody has any idea of what’s going on.

The general consensus is that Brady indeed plans to retire, but that he’s not quite ready to make his announcement. So, what’s the holdup?

Well, that remains to be seen, but the answer might be found in the details of the contract extension he signed with the Bucs last year. As pointed out by Spotrac, Brady stands to lose $15 million of his $20 million signing bonus if he officially retires before Feb. 4.

Check out this tweet:

Yeah, that would be a pretty good reason to delay a retirement announcement.

How this story ends is anyone’s guess. If former New England Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis is correct, Brady might not want to announce anything until after the NFL’s conference championship games.

So, sit tight, because we could be doing this dance for a few more days.