If I may, not trying to flame you in any way, shape, or form; but in my humble opinion, BRADY also left a LOT of $$money$$ on the table so to speak, because he knew he needed top shelf players around him, no one seems to mention this. I thought I would just throw my two cents into the conversation.
I know, and you are correct.
He gave back a portion of his salary in a ‘restructuring’ of his contract so that the Patriots could stay under the Salary Cap, and hire some top Free Agent talent.
Later on, when he was nearing the end of his career, he asked or it back and they said no.
That is one reason he left them, the ungrateful bastards.
I’m no Brady Fan, but I won’t blame him for that!..............