Tom Brady is facing a legitimate financial disaster amid his Tampa Bay Buccaneers tripping and falling their way into this year’s NFL playoffs.
To say that 2022 wasn’t a good 12-month stretch for Brady would be an understatement.
Not only did he struggle professionally with the Bucs going 8-9 and only making the postseason because they’re in a historically awful division, but he took some big personal hits as well.
Between Brady’s divorce from Gisele Bundchen, how quickly she moved on to a new man, the friends he lost as a result and the drama surrounding the new girl he’s linked to – it has been one thing after another.
This week, the tough times continued.
Beleaguered cryptocurrency exchange FTX is currently embroiled in a lawsuit that essentially accuses it of being a Ponzi scheme. Brady, among others, stands accused of “funneling investors into the FTX Ponzi scheme, and promoting and substantially assist in the sale of the (accounts), which are unregistered securities.”
In addition to this lawsuit, FTX’s pending bankruptcy will likely render all stockholders’ shares fully or nearly worthless.
That means Brady’s 1.1 million common shares of FTX, which were worth a fortune when the company was valued at around $32 billion roughly a year ago, are going to be worth peanuts by the time everything is settled in court many years from now.
Obviously Brady has earned a lot of money throughout his career, even though he didn’t actually cross the $20 million annual player salary mark until 2019.
But this would be a massive financial disaster for anyone – no matter how rich they are.
Brady is set to become a free agent this summer. It is seen as a virtual certainty that he will leave the Buccaneers behind.
Currently, one team is viewed as the frontrunner for his services.
Based on his current financial circumstances, it is safe to assume that money will play as big a role in his next deal as anything else.
Brady will want to win, sure.
May need to start watching Saints games next year. https://t.co/R3Eqf88d86
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 11, 2023
But he will also want to get paid.
Who will step up to the plate and back up the Brinks truck for a 45-year-old coming off the worst year of his professional career?
Time will tell.
Related: Did Jim Harbaugh Beg Panthers For Job, Then Get Rejected?
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
