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Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Tom Brady will play in his 23rd NFL season in 2022. The quarterback has a contract with the Buccaneers until the end of the upcoming season. Brady remains unsure whether he will return for his 24th campaign in the NFL in 2023.
While his future in the NFL remains uncertain, Brady has already laid down his post-retirement career path. Earlier this year, the seven-time Super Bowl champion signed a lucrative 10-year, $375 million deal with FOX Sports to become the network's lead NFL analyst. The deal will commence once Brady decides to call it quits on his unprecedented NFL career.
Legendary play-by-play commentator Al Michaels was asked how he felt about Brady's eye-watering deal with FOX Sports. During his appearance on "Football Morning In America," Michaels said:
"The Brady deal, I don’t know whether the number is right. I don’t know whether he’s a brand ambassador, whatever that’s supposed to mean. It can’t just be for doing games. It has to be other stuff. In a way, this is just the way it’s gone... I’ve always felt that the ruination of somebody especially if you’re on a team and the guy at the next locker is making $500,000 more than you and you’re all pissed off about that. Why?"
Earlier this year, Michaels, who was the play-by-play commentator on "Sunday Night Football" for 15 years, left NBC to join Amazon on a five-year, $75 million deal. He will now be the voice of "Thursday Night Football" starting this upcoming season.
The veteran commentator's deal with Amazon pales in comparison to Brady's mammoth deal. Michaels alluded to the fact that he doesn't envy the Buccaneers star's contract and is content with what he has achieved:
"We’re all doing pretty well. Enjoy it. Especially at this point of my life, I mean, great. More power to anybody who can get whatever they get. That’s what the market will bear."
Will Tom Brady be the highest-earning analyst in America?
There's still some time before Tom Brady officially joins FOX Sports and commences his career in the media. But when he does, the quarterback will likely be the highest-paid sports analyst in the US.
CBS Sports Radio's Jim Rome is currently the highest-paid sports analyst with a salary in the region of $30 million a year. Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo signed a 10-year, $180 million extension with CBS Sports, making him the second-highest-paid analyst in America.
Another former Cowboys quarterback, Troy Aikman, swapped the FOX booth for ESPN earlier this year. He signed a five-year, $90 million ($18 million-a-year) deal with the network to be their lead analyst on Monday Night Football.
Tom Brady will earn over twice as much as Romo and Aikman, but that only showcases the seven-time Super Bowl champion's star power.
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