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* The extension is for four years and $72 million, going from 2011-14. If you want a five-year total, take it is as, from the most fair standpoint, $84 million. The deal Brady signed in 2005 was really a four-year, $48 million extension. It was massively front-loaded (44 percent of the deal was guaranteed) and that means that it only makes sense to take the AAV of $12 million off of that to count toward the new deal.

* The deal has a veteran record of $48.5 million guaranteed as part of it. Rams quarterback Sam Bradford did get $50 million guaranteed, but rookie deals work differently, so the guarantees in this one truly are landmarks. Philip Rivers got $38 million guaranteed. Eli Manning got around $35 million guaranteed.

* Speaking of Eli's deal, this one trumps it on two counts as the league's richest ever. First, the AAV on the Brady's extension is greater -- $18 million to $16.25 million. And second, the AAV on the total money over the life of the deal is greater -- $16.8 million to $15.27 million. Even if you wanted to count Brady for only the $6.5 million he's making in 2010, it gets you to $15.7 million. So Brady's the highest paid guy, period.

* The deal has been finalized and will have its mechanics worked out and be turned into the league in the morning. It's done, folks.

* It takes Brady through his 37th birthday. The summer after the expiration of this deal, Brady will turn 38. And when it runs out, he'll have played his 15th season as a Patriot. Pretty amazing all the way around.

* What makes this contract most unique is its brevity. Normally, to get a high AAV on a deal, a quarterback has to sign a 6- or 8- or 10-year extension. Yet, Brady got to those numbers with only four years on his contract. That makes his deal more like Nnamdi Asomugha's, in a certain way.