NFL analyst credits Gisele Bundchen for financing Bill Belichick’s dynasty

The Bill Belichick-Tom Brady debate has been a conversation rolling around the NFL zeitgeist for about the last 20 years. Some have taken the head coach's side while others have leaned toward the quarterback. However, pretty much no one has considered Gisele Bundchen in the equation. That's what NFL analyst Jamie Erdahl appeared to have said on Good Morning Football:

"Obviously, any quarterback discount we ever hear, it goes back to the one that did it best or most traded strategically and that's Tom Brady... He was never the biggest cap hit to his team in the time that he was making his money... I think had an awareness. It also helps when you marry a wildly successful [person.] That's not insignificant."

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In other words, she implied that Bill Belichick was able to get free agents and spread around the wealth to keep the Super Bowl squads around longer because he had to pay Tom Brady less. Brady was able to accept less money because his wife at the time, Bundchen, was making cash hand over fist with her modeling career.

Put simply, Gisele Bundchen's lucrative career financed the head coach and general manager to make moves other general managers could not.

Bill Belichick's deals with Tom Brady over the years

Tom Brady and Bill Belichick at Super Bowl LI - New England Patriots v Atlanta Falcons

Under his first contract in the NFL, sixth-round pick Brady earned $866,000 over three years, according to Spotrac. That ballooned to about $30 million over four years from 2002-2006. His biggest contract with the Patriots saw him earn $72 million over four years with the franchise from 2010-2014.

That deal was the last four-year commitment Bill Belichick made to Brady. Every other deal was three years or less. By 2016, he was only committing to the quarterback two years at a time. Brady's final contract with the franchise came in 2019, when he was locked in for just one year, earning $23 million.

Over the next three seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brady earned $75 million. $50 million came on the first deal and $25 million came on the final deal of his NFL career.

If any of the above quotes are used, credit Good Morning Football and H/T Sportskeeda.