Tom Brady has reportedly agreed to a restructured contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which is expected to give the team a significant increase in salary-cap space.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reports the new deal freed an additional $9 million in cap space and Brady is still signed only through the 2022 season before becoming a free agent next offseason.
The move is similar to many made by Brady and the New England Patriots during his 20-year stint with the franchise in order to give the Patriots more room to sign talented teammates.
That's good news for the Bucs as one of Brady's all-time favorite targets, Rob Gronkowski, as well as former All-Pro defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, remain free agents.
Prior to Brady's new deal, Gronkowski -- who has been teammates with the 23-year veteran during all 11 of his previous NFL seasons -- said he'll begin contract negotiations once he decides whether he'll continue his playing career.
“That will start if I decide that I want to play,” Gronkowski told Emery in an interview before his appearance at the Nickelodeon “Kids’ Choice Awards” on April 9 via Sports Illustrated. “There’s no reason to do that while there’s a decision to be made first. It’s all about if I decide to.”
Gronkowski, 32, had previously retired in 2019 following his last Super Bowl victory as a member of the New England Patriots, before coming out of retirement the following offseason and rejoining Brady -- his teammate for his entire career -- after being traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers days later.
In February, Gronkowski said he'd retire if pressured to decide on his NFL future immediately at the time, which happened to be before Brady officially announced his retirement and his eventual unretirement weeks later.
"If they're like, 'Rob, you've got to decide right now, right this second if you're playing next year,' I would say 'no' right now, it's two days after the season. I would be like, 'No, I'm not playing,'"" Gronkowski said during an appearance on TMZ Sports on January 25. "It's way too soon, but like, you've got to give it some time, you've got to rest. I would say to see how everything goes, how everything plays out, how I feel. I just want to heal completely, see where my thoughts are from there, then.
"I would say, really, you really start thinking of what you're really going to do in about three, four, five weeks from now, especially in my situation."
Suh was spotted at Fenway Park for a Boston Red Sox game last weekend, which led to speculation that he was visiting with Brady and Gronkowski's former team, the Patriots.
However, Suh seemed to be lobbying for his return in a congratulatory tweet to former defensive coordinator Todd Bowles upon being promoted to head coach last month.
"Congrats to Todd Bowles on becoming head coach of a great team that still feels one-man light on talent," Suh tweeted.
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