Why was Tom Brady fined? Bucs QB slapped with $11k punishment for kicking Falcons player

Tom Brady was at the center of the first of two roughing the passer penalties that set the NFL zeitgeist into a frenzy in Week 5.

Most have pounded the table, rejecting the referee's claims in both instances that there was an instance of roughing the passer. Now, it seems the NFL has taken a step towards penalizing Tom Brady, who was the original victim in the first roughing the passer call.

According to Adam Schefter, the quarterback was fined $11,000 for a kick that came at the end of the sack that was slapped with the roughing the passer penalty.

The quarterback was grabbed by Falcons pass rusher Grady Jarrett and spun down to the turf, not unlike several sacks made since then, including one on Thursday Night Football.

At the end of the play, the Bucs quarterback kicked the pass rusher.

The kick was noticed by many on the broadcast and several pundits over the last few days have said that the unnecessary roughness or unsportsmanlike conduct should have been called in lieu of Brady's actions, instead of roughing the passer.

Here's a video of the play in question:

How much does the fine hurt Tom Brady's earnings?

Atlanta Falcons v Tampa Bay Buccaneers

According to Spotrac, the quarterback is on a one-year deal that expires at the end of 2022.

The 45-year old quarterback is set to make about $1.1 million in base salary this year. He's already made $10.77 million in signing bonuses, and is protected by a dead cap cost of $47 million. Ultimtaely, he will cost the team $30 million.

The $11,000 fine is worth about .000036666666 percent of what he is officially costing the team.

In terms of his total net worth, it is, quite frankly, minuscule.

Put simply, most see this as a slap on the wrist for Tom Brady and a small price to pay to keep a competitive edge. Meanwhile, Jarrett's penalty was free in terms of financial retribution as of now, but it cost his team a win.