Why isn't the NFL doing anything about the Pats violating the Salary Cap by paying Brady Under the Table?

[Bruce Harper]

I know this isn't new news but I was thinking about our salary cap issues and it started to get me pissed off that the Patriots get around the Salary cap by paying Brady less than market value but paying him untold amounts for his dopey protein powder that they could get from any GNC.  Isn't this pretty transparent?  Oh well, maybe if they lose the appeal.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/12/19/patriots-pay-business-owned-tom-brady-and-partner-with-dubious-past/C4zMzcPDgU62WMMg10qeBL/story.html

Sorry, my cut and paste function doesn't seem to be working.

 

 

[Beerfish]

If there is a way to cheat the system they will do it.  Like your average drunk driver who drives drunk every weekend gets caught once a year for every incident we know about there are a dozen we don't know about.

[rex-n-effect]

The NFLPA doesn't care because one of its primary objectives is to get players paid as much as possible.

The NFL doesn't care because it's the patriots and it doesn't want more scandal. Other teams don't care because they want to be able to go over the salary cap when it conveniences them. That doesn't excuse investigation of reasonably apparent rule violations but we all know the NFL's public image is its primary objective. 

There may be more to the off-salary compensation to Brady that we still do not know but I am not sure this particular arrangement pays Brady anywhere close to what he gave up in salary even if one factors in the long term financial opportunities created by an affiliation with an NFL team.

[joewilly12]

Proof or link? 

[JustInFudge]

Because its the Patriots and they are allowed to cheat.

They're the biggest disgrace in the history of sports.  This should literally be a death sentence to an organization.  But hey, it's Tom Brady and the Patriots, so all is good in the hood.

The NFL is a joke. 

 

 

[Larz]

because nobody sent brady a letter specifically stating his specific punishments for being a scumbag

[AFCEastFan]

One need only compare the penalty the T'Wolves received for Joe Smith to the one the Broncos received for paying Elway and TD under the table to understand how little the NFL cares about salary cap violations.

[jetscrazey]

The NFL is a lot like the banking system.  The franchises may compete against each other, but when the general existence of the racket is in question, the franchises will join and work together to protect it.

[JustInFudge]

13 minutes ago, AFCEastFan said:

One need only compare the penalty the T'Wolves received for Joe Smith to the one the Broncos received for paying Elway and TD under the table to understand how little the NFL cares about salary cap violations.

The Broncos situation wasnt the same, at all.  Those were like deferred payments or something like that.  And they were punished for their violations.

This is directly circumventing the salary cap and nobody cares because its the Cheatriots and Brady.

[CaliforniaJet]

Sometimes I wonder how their record would look like without all the cheating, I guess it would look like the Browns with BB as the head coach, pretty lame. After so many years of sucking balls, they finally decided to cheat in every way possible. 

[pointman]

Because they are basically dating.

 

[C Mart]

3 hours ago, Bruce Harper said:

I know this isn't new news but I was thinking about our salary cap issues and it started to get me pissed off that the Patriots get around the Salary cap by paying Brady less than market value but paying him untold amounts for his dopey protein powder that they could get from any GNC.  Isn't this pretty transparent?  Oh well, maybe if they lose the appeal.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/12/19/patriots-pay-business-owned-tom-brady-and-partner-with-dubious-past/C4zMzcPDgU62WMMg10qeBL/story.html

Sorry, my cut and paste function doesn't seem to be working.

 

 

Send the story to NY media outlets. Maybe they'll run with it. Ask Cimini & Mehta to comment. 

[PatsFanTX]

I know this isn't new news but I was thinking about our salary cap issues and it started to get me pissed off that the Patriots get around the Salary cap by paying Brady less than market value but paying him untold amounts for his dopey protein powder that they could get from any GNC.  Isn't this pretty transparent?  Oh well, maybe if they lose the appeal.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/12/19/patriots-pay-business-owned-tom-brady-and-partner-with-dubious-past/C4zMzcPDgU62WMMg10qeBL/story.html

Sorry, my cut and paste function doesn't seem to be working.

 

 

First of all, you should worry about your own team who hasn't sniffed the playoffs in 5 years.

Second of all, the Pats cleared this entire situation with the NFL prior to signing a contract. The NFL said this is 100% within the salary cap rules.

Just another great example of the Pats playing chess and the rest of the NFL playing checkers.

[CaliforniaJet]

9 minutes ago, PatsFanTX said:

First of all, you should worry about your own team who hasn't sniffed the playoffs in 5 years.

Second of all, the Pats cleared this entire situation with the NFL prior to signing a contract. The NFL said this is 100% within the salary cap rules.

Just another great example of the Pats playing chess and the rest of the NFL playing checkers.

Says a Pats fan that lives on a Jets site. Keep cheating, or you will be the BB Browns pretty soon.  

[The Crusher]

19 minutes ago, PatsFanTX said:

First of all, you should worry about your own team

How do you say that with a straight face? 

[HighPitch]

interesting. seems to be a conflict of interest.

maybe the jets should sign fitz and mo for 1 m, allow their buddy to become a team fitness guru, and woody can pay them an undisclosed amount.

what could the nfl say?

[neckdemon]

48 minutes ago, PatsFanTX said:

First of all, you should worry about your own team who hasn't sniffed the playoffs in 5 years.

Second of all, the Pats cleared this entire situation with the NFL prior to signing a contract. The NFL said this is 100% within the salary cap rules.

Just another great example of the Pats playing chess and the rest of the NFL playing checkers.

It's ok. The brady Era is coming to an end and everyone will see the pats weren't some chess grandmaster. They just had an extra queen......

[HighPitch]

oooh snap a queen i get it. cus he gayish

[AFCEastFan]

6 hours ago, JiF said:

The Broncos situation wasnt the same, at all.  Those were like deferred payments or something like that.  And they were punished for their violations.

This is directly circumventing the salary cap and nobody cares because its the Cheatriots and Brady.

If the Patriots agreed to pay Brady an extra $29 million under the table, payable a few years down the road, I can assure you that the league would care.  

Lest we forget, the NFL just docked the Patriots a 1st and a 4th for ... who knows what.  Bountygate style vicarious liability?  Insufficient cooperation with Wells?  Spygate make-up?  All of the above?  Regardless, if there was really Denver Broncos style salary cap cheating going on here, I'm not sure why you think the league would hesitate to come down hard on the Patriots.  If you haven't noticed, Kraft doesn't exactly have many friends in the NFL ownership community these days.

[Jet Nut]

7 hours ago, PatsFanTX said:

First of all, you should worry about your own team who hasn't sniffed the playoffs in 5 years.

Second of all, the Pats cleared this entire situation with the NFL prior to signing a contract. The NFL said this is 100% within the salary cap rules.

Just another great example of the Pats playing chess and the rest of the NFL playing checkers.

Says the guy with 20,000 plus posts on a Jets board.

Who cant stop talking Jets 24/7

 

[RutgersJetFan]

7 hours ago, PatsFanTX said:

First of all, you should worry about your own team who hasn't sniffed the playoffs in 5 years.

You should worry about suckin' on deez nutz.

[Sperm Edwards]

14 hours ago, AFCEastFan said:

One need only compare the penalty the T'Wolves received for Joe Smith to the one the Broncos received for paying Elway and TD under the table to understand how little the NFL cares about salary cap violations.

What??? It's nowhere near the same situation. Interest, not salary, was paid "under the table" back then. Not to justify them doing it, but it's a huge difference in both the reason for doing it and the amounts.

The Broncos paid Elway (and T.Davis) interest on deferred salary payments so they could push actually writing the checks to a later time. All of the players' salaries still came off the cap. They were temporarily cash-poor when building their stadium, so they deferred actually paying the salary on time. When they did write the checks (presumably a year or two later), they tacked on interest for holding the player's money just like a bank does. It was a cash flow issue, not a scheme to circumvent the salary cap in the manner the Patriots/Brady are doing.

Effectively, the team was borrowing money from Elway and Davis and paying interest on the borrowed amount. They weren't extra salary payments for playing football. Still against the rules, because the league said the interest should have come off the cap, but it's a relative rounding error in comparison. Oh, and the Broncos got fined $1M (a bit more 15 years ago than $1M is today to an NFL team), and they were also docked a pair of 3rd round draft picks. 

Night and day difference between that and literally paying Brady's football salary off the salary cap, by paying him indirectly through a shell company. Also unlike the Patriots paying Brady off the salary cap, the Broncos didn't clear 1 penny of salary cap space so they could then sign other players. 

One could easily argue that borrowing money from the players, and paying them interest for doing so, was a business deal totally separate from payment for playing football. Just like Brady and the Patriots are claiming their money is for a separate business deal; except NE's "services received" in these business deals are bullsh*t and it transparently IS money for playing football, being paid off the team's salary cap.

[sourceworx]

Because Roger Goodell's NFL has about as much credibility as professional wrestling.

[BowlesMovement]

12 hours ago, PatsFanTX said:

First of all, you should worry about your own team who hasn't sniffed the playoffs in 5 years.

Second of all, the Pats cleared this entire situation with the NFL prior to signing a contract. The NFL said this is 100% within the salary cap rules.

Just another great example of the Pats playing chess and the rest of the NFL playing checkers.

Looks like the troll is a wittle upset.... That is what happens when you are a pathetic waste of human life, whose only self worth is derived from the football team you root for.....

[BowlesMovement]

6 hours ago, AFCEastFan said:

If the Patriots agreed to pay Brady an extra $29 million under the table, payable a few years down the road, I can assure you that the league would care.  

Lest we forget, the NFL just docked the Patriots a 1st and a 4th for ... who knows what.  Bountygate style vicarious liability?  Insufficient cooperation with Wells?  Spygate make-up?  All of the above?  Regardless, if there was really Denver Broncos style salary cap cheating going on here, I'm not sure why you think the league would hesitate to come down hard on the Patriots.  If you haven't noticed, Kraft doesn't exactly have many friends in the NFL ownership community these days.

That's what happens when you cheat your way to 4 SB titles and abuse the system. It's hard to prove handshake deals, just because they can't prove it, does not mean it's no typical piece of sh1t typical Patriots BS. At the end of the day, Brady has left at least 50 mil on the table as to what's being charged on the cap, and NOBODY does that, once again, they are cheating their asses off.

[Sperm Edwards]

12 hours ago, neckdemon said:

It's ok. The brady Era is coming to an end and everyone will see the pats weren't some chess grandmaster. They just had an extra queen......

This is awesome.

[Charlie Brown]

Why complain?

In truth, I think that we need to do the same thing.  If the NFL is saying it's ok then we should send a letter to the NFL stating we are following the Pats lead and force the NFL to end such outrageousness.  

Cause we all know as soon as as we or another club tried this the NFL would step in and end the practice.   I just feel in general NFL owners would do that because the cap helps them to increase profits.  Permitting this on a large scale would hurt ownership profits in the long run and NFL isn't going to let that happen. 

So once again the Pats get away because no one calls them on it and NO everyone else in NOT doing it as the Pats defenders are constantly quick to state.   

[Sperm Edwards]

A group of a few of our highest-paid players and they should form a consultant group on which urinal cakes to use at Florham Park. They could/should even repackage other brands as their own and sell them for a 10000% markup. Or pay our center $7M a year for the nutritional supplement Mangold's Magic Elixir (Bosco infused with Vitamin C).

[drdetroit]

Goodell is an incompetent figurehead that couldn't figure out how to capably discipline the patriots for obvious cheating how the hell do u think he could pull this off?

[PatsFanTX]

Looks like the troll is a wittle upset.... That is what happens when you are a pathetic waste of human life, whose only self worth is derived from the football team you root for.....

Do the Jets have a QB yet?

[AFCEastFan]

2 hours ago, Sperm Edwards said:

What??? It's nowhere near the same situation. Interest, not salary, was paid "under the table" back then. Not to justify them doing it, but it's a huge difference in both the reason for doing it and the amounts.

The Broncos paid Elway (and T.Davis) interest on deferred salary payments so they could push actually writing the checks to a later time. All of the players' salaries still came off the cap. They were temporarily cash-poor when building their stadium, so they deferred actually paying the salary on time. When they did write the checks (presumably a year or two later), they tacked on interest for holding the player's money just like a bank does. It was a cash flow issue, not a scheme to circumvent the salary cap in the manner the Patriots/Brady are doing.

Effectively, the team was borrowing money from Elway and Davis and paying interest on the borrowed amount. They weren't extra salary payments for playing football. Still against the rules, because the league said the interest should have come off the cap, but it's a relative rounding error in comparison. Oh, and the Broncos got fined $1M (a bit more 15 years ago than $1M is today to an NFL team), and they were also docked a pair of 3rd round draft picks. 

Night and day difference between that and literally paying Brady's football salary off the salary cap, by paying him indirectly through a shell company. Also unlike the Patriots paying Brady off the salary cap, the Broncos didn't clear 1 penny of salary cap space so they could then sign other players. 

One could easily argue that borrowing money from the players, and paying them interest for doing so, was a business deal totally separate from payment for playing football. Just like Brady and the Patriots are claiming their money is for a separate business deal; except NE's "services received" in these business deals are bullsh*t and it transparently IS money for playing football, being paid off the team's salary cap.

Going with a Broncos fan site explanation of the issue and extensive use of the typographic arts does not really advance the ball on this discussion.  I can't say I blame you, though, because there is not much out there on this topic.  Below is the most balanced discussion of the topic I was able to find:

https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/2vrv95/lets_talk_about_the_broncos_salary_cap/

As to Brady, you seem to have a lot more information about his company than I do.  For starters, how much equity does Brady have in the company and what is his annual take in profits? 

 

 

[AFCEastFan]

1 hour ago, BowlesMovement said:

That's what happens when you cheat your way to 4 SB titles and abuse the system. It's hard to prove handshake deals, just because they can't prove it, does not mean it's no typical piece of sh1t typical Patriots BS. At the end of the day, Brady has left at least 50 mil on the table as to what's being charged on the cap, and NOBODY does that, once again, they are cheating their asses off.

If the Patriots are actually paying Brady $50 million under the table, then I hope it is proven and the league levies a fine so staggering that the Patriots are forced to shut their doors. 

[BowlesMovement]

1 hour ago, PatsFanTX said:

Do the Jets have a QB yet?

LOL, keep trying bud.... Unlike you, I am not a loser who requires a football team to make myself feel better about my life. I get that from my family, friends and personal achievements..... Football is entertainment for me, not self worth like you. I come here to talk about that entertainment, and expose pathetic losers like you.... Enjoy "your" QB, LOL.

[BowlesMovement]

1 hour ago, AFCEastFan said:

If the Patriots are actually paying Brady $50 million under the table, then I hope it is proven and the league levies a fine so staggering that the Patriots are forced to shut their doors. 

Yeah, me too, but it won't happen. When Brady takes some meaningless job for a few mil per year for life with the cheats, its going to still be nearly impossible to prove that was a handshake deal.

[EM31]

1 hour ago, AFCEastFan said:

If the Patriots are actually paying Brady $50 million under the table, then I hope it is proven and the league levies a fine so staggering that the Patriots are forced to shut their doors. 

At some point and I am not saying this is it but at some point it has to not be about fines anymore.

n-time offenders or some such.