Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Tom Brady Wins, Even With Retirement

Tom-Brady
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports/Design: Alex Brooks

Tom Brady’s run as the GOAT is officially ending after announcing his retirement Tuesday morning on social media. While Brady’s time is up on the field, he walks away as the NFL’s all-time earnings leader.

The seven-time Super Bowl champion has reportedly made $293 million just from playing contracts during his 22 years in the NFL, according to Spotrac. Brady added another estimated $160 million off the field.

Peyton Manning, the NFL’s previous all-time earnings leader, retired in 2015 with a projected $400 million in career earnings on and off the field. Brady, the No. 9 highest-paid athlete on Forbes’ annual list, made a record $45 million off the field just this season.

Brady has endorsement deals with Fanatics, FTX, Hertz, Under Armour, Subway, and others.

Brady’s Bunch

The three-time league MVP has a footprint in a variety of industries.

  • Brady co-founded nutrition company TB12 and NFT platform Autograph, which recently raised $170 million.
  • The soon-to-be Hall of Famer also owns the media company 199 Productions and unveiled his own apparel line — BRADY — earlier this year.

Had Brady played in 2022, he would have earned $27.3 million in salary and bonuses, plus the leftover $15 million of his $20 million signing bonus. He would have also been guaranteed his entire salary on Feb. 18.

Now that he is retiring, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can retrieve up to $16 million of the bonus total and his salary would be voided.

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