WEEI – Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has restructured his contract. Brady, who signed a four-year, $72 million extension in September 2010, was initially scheduled to make $5.75 million in base salary with a $6 million roster bonus and $250,000 workout bonus this season. Under the new agreement (first reported by Brian McIntyre of Mac’s Football Blog), Brady’s base salary was reduced to a fully guaranteed $950,000, with the remaining difference ($4.8 million) combined with the roster bonus and converted into a $10.8 million signing bonus that will be prorated over the three remaining years on Brady’s contract. By restructuring Brady’s deal, the Patriots freed up $7.2 million in cap space.

Okay, so Brady will still make his money but this is a huge move for the Patriots and I am interested to see what their motive is here. Is this to sign Welker to his big deal? Is there a big money guy available in free agency that isn’t a wide receiver named Mike Wallace? Or could it be that the Patriots are looking to move up in the draft to sign a top 10 pick to a big contract? Not sure what direction the Pats are going in but the anticipation has the blood rushing to my private areas.