Tom Brady will join Fox Sports as its lead NFL analyst when his playing career ends.
Fox did not disclose terms of Brady’s deal, but the New York Post reported that the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback has agreed to a 10-year, $375 million contract — the most lucrative in sports broadcasting history.
Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch announced the news Tuesday during a corporate investor call. Brady will call games alongside lead play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt and will work as an “ambassador” for Fox with a focus on “client and promotional initiatives.”
“We are delighted that Tom has committed to joining the Fox team and wish him all the best during this upcoming season,” Murdoch said.
Brady tweeted that he is excited to eventually join Fox but noted that he still has “unfinished business” as a player.
Excited, but a lot of unfinished business on the field with the @Buccaneers #LFG https://t.co/FwKlQp02Hi
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) May 10, 2022
Murdoch said it’s “entirely up to” Brady when he decides to retire from football and join Fox. Brady led the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title after the 2020 season and an NFC South title last season. He teamed with coach Bill Belichick to win six Super Bowls during 20 seasons with the New England Patriots.
According to Roster Management System, Brady has made $302,674,250 in his career. The three-time NFL MVP is scheduled to make another $15 million in the 2022 season, bringing his 23-year career earnings to $317,674,250 through this coming season.
Fox recently lost its top football announcers, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, to ESPN and replaced Buck with Burkhardt.
Brady, who turns 45 in August, becomes the latest superstar quarterback to pursue a post-retirement media career.
Tony Romo has been the lead NFL analyst at CBS since 2017 after a 14-year career with the Dallas Cowboys. Drew Brees worked as a football analyst at NBC last year after 20 seasons in the NFL, and Peyton Manning and Eli Manning teamed up last season on ESPN’s ManningCast broadcast of Monday Night Football.
“I think that’s excellent,” Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich said Tuesday. “It’s crazy when you’re 45, you have to think of your next job when you’re still playing football, right? You have to do this early, right?
“But it’s the way he sees football. That’s what I love. That’s what makes our relationship unique — the way he sees football. I love the way he sees football. It’s similar to the way I saw it. … He’s a football junkie and he has an interesting perspective of this position, and I think it would be great for everyone to hear that, everyone to hear it, to see/hear how he’s wired, the way that he sees football, because we’re talking about the best ever, right? The fact that you get the best ever to play the quarterback position, have an opportunity to listen to him talk about football — a year from now, two years from now, three years from now — is a great thing.”
Brady briefly retired earlier this offseason but announced in March that he had changed his mind and will return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the 2022 season.
Brady is the NFL leader in career passing yards (84,520) and touchdown passes (624), and he led the league with a career-high 5,316 passing yards and 43 TDs in 2021, his second season with the Buccaneers.
ESPN’s Jenna Laine and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: www.espn.com