Tom Brady will join Fox Sports as its lead NFL analyst whenever his playing career comes to an end.
Brady’s deal with Fox Sports will reportedly pay him $375 million over ten years, meaning he will be the highest-paid football analyst on TV.
FOX Executive Chair and CEO Lachlan Murdoch announced the news Tuesday morning.
"We are pleased to announce that immediately following his playing career, 7-time Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady will be joining us at @FOXSports as our lead analyst. pic.twitter.com/fJTOQJ9BwM
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) May 10, 2022
“We are delighted that Tom has committed to joining the Fox team and wish him all the best during this upcoming season,” Murdoch added.
Brady briefly retired this offseason after his 22nd season in the NFL, but in March announced that he would be returning to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for his 23rd season.
The former New England Patriots quarterback, who turns 45 in August, will join Kevin Burkhardt in the booth and call Fox’s game of the week. Brady will also work as an “ambassador” for Fox, focusing on “client and promotional initiatives,” according to Murdoch.
Fox recently lost its top announcers, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, who decided to join ESPN.
Brady tweeted that he still has “a lot of unfinished business” with the Buccaneers but is excited to join Fox eventually.
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 added that it is “entirely up to” Brady to decide whenever he wants to quit playing football and join Fox.
“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,” Leftwich said. “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 … 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,” he added.
Brady will become the latest superstar quarterback to join the media after their playing career.
Tony Romo has been CBS’s lead NFL analyst since 2017, joining the network immediately after his 14 years with the Dallas Cowboys.
Drew Brees was a football analyst at NBC last season after his retirement following 20 seasons in the NFL.
Peyton Manning and Eli Manning signed a three-year contract extension with ESPN to continue their ManningCast alternate broadcast of Monday Night Football.
Brady’s decision to join the broadcast booth is somewhat surprising, given that he already has several business initiatives outside football. He recently launched a clothing line named after himself, adding to his TB12 Sports empire and his production company, 199 Productions.
Brady is the all-time NFL leader in passing yards (84,520) and touchdown passes (624). Last season he led the league with a career-high 5,316 passing yards and 43 passing touchdowns.
