On Monday, Tom Brady announced that he would not be joining Fox Sports as an NFL commentator until the fall of 2024, delaying a 10-year, $375 million contract he had signed with the network. This announcement came shortly after his retirement from the NFL, capping a 23-year career that earned him an estimated $525 million. If Brady signs with Fox, his career earnings will be around $900 million.
Fox Sports' decision to recruit Brady as an NFL commentator is a notable one as his salary is expected to be far greater than the $18 million salaries ESPN's Troy Aikman and CBS' Tony Romo make. Brady's future broadcast partner, Kevin Burkhardt, said he had not thought about Brady as a broadcaster "for 10 fucking seconds".
Fox's announcement came shortly after ESPN poached Aikman and long-time broadcast partner Joe Buck from the network. Brady is slated to replace Greg Olsen, who will call this week's Super Bowl alongside play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt, as Fox's top NFL analyst. Brady said he wanted to take time for "decompression" following his retirement and wanted to be "great at what I do".
Tom Brady's decision to delay his move to Fox Sports until 2024 marks a significant change in the broadcasting landscape. His potential salary could be far higher than those of current commentators, and his decision to take time for "decompression" is an interesting one. It remains to be seen how this will affect Fox Sports, but the network is evidently confident that Brady will be an asset to them in the future.