“Why now?” - NFL analyst questions whether timing of Tom Brady’s broadcasting announcement will be a distraction

Tom Brady has already secured a new job to take on once he retires from the game of football. It was announced this morning that Brady will be a Fox Sports canalyst once he retires from the NFL.

CEO of FOX corporation Lachlan Murdoch said about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback's addition to the company:

"Brady will not only call our biggest NFL games with Kevin Burkhardt, but will also serve as an ambassador for us, particularly with respect to client and promotional initiatives."

Brady will work alongside Kevin Burkhardt when his NFL career ends and will be one of their biggest ambassadors. With his arrival, FOX Sports have landed a huge name after losing mainstay announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman to ESPN.

Analyst Shaun O’Hara spoke on GMFB about Brady's new job and questioned why it was announced now.

O'Hara said:

“This is interesting, not just as a move itself, but from the timing standpoint. Why now? I mean, there's so much time between now and then. And for Brady, it’s always like ‘hey, I got a single purpose and get my focus back on the field, my team.’”

He added:

“And then this just kind of feels like a little bit of distraction for him. And now his teammates are like, ‘all right, so are you already thinking about that?’”

With the deal being announced before the season has even started, it could cause some to believe this might be Brady's last season playing football. Such an assumption would make sense given he retired this off-season before a change of heart made him decide to return for a 23rd season.

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How much will Tom Brady be earning with Fox Sports?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady.

Tom Brady's deal with Fox Sports is for 10 years and worth $375 million, according to the New York Post, making it the largest in sportscasting history. It is notably more than double of both CBS’ Tony Romo and ESPN’s Troy Aikman, who earn an average annual salary of $18 million per season.

Brady's deal with Fox will see him earn more than what he's made over his NFL career, which is around $300 million.

The 44-year-old will become the latest former NFL star to join the broadcast booth. The last former quarterback to join broadcasting after his football career was Tony Romo. Romo signed monster 10-year contract for $17.5 million per year with CBS in early 2020.