Money

Tom Brady wins EVERYTHING ... including fans' credit cards -- 'cause the NFL says the Patriots legend is its leader in merch sales AGAIN!!!

So, the big question ... where does the league's HIGHEST-paid player rank on the list? Russell Wilson isn't even in the Top 10!

The NFL Player's Association just dropped the numbers which show fans spent more money on TB12 items from March 1, 2018 to February 28, 2019 than ANY other player.

How does the rest of the list shake out? It's interesting ...

#2 -- Dak Prescott

#3 -- Carson Wentz

#4 -- Ezekiel Elliott

#5 -- Patrick Mahomes

#6 -- Saquon Barkley

#7 -- Aaron Rodgers

#8 -- Deshaun Watson

#9 -- Khalil Mack

#10 -- Drew Brees

Some other notables on the list ...

Baker Mayfield was #12, Odell Beckham clocked in at #13 ... and Russell Wilson was all the way down at #19 behind guys like Mitchell Trubisky and Adam Thielen.

Some other shocking numbers ... JJ Watt was down at #34, Cam Newton was down at #39 and Matthew Stafford was at #43.

Jimmy Garoppolo -- who's only played 26 games in 5 years -- was #23 on the list ... though it might have to do more with people supporting his off-the-field game!

Ex-Baylor superstar and NFL prospect Shawn Oakman says legal expenses from fighting a false rape allegation broke him ... so much so that he had to sell one of his Bowl game champion rings.

The defensive end was accused of sexual assault in 2016, just days before the NFL draft would've likely made him a millionaire. He went undrafted and hasn't stepped foot on an NFL field yet.

Shawn was exonerated back in February -- with a jury deliberating just 45 minutes before finding him not guilty, citing evidence that the sex was consensual.

Oakman recently sat down for an interview with Ben Raymond for a special called "Shawn Oakman: The Rebirth" and opened up about what the entire ordeal cost him, and the cost was HIGH.

"I went through two paid lawyers. The second lawyer, it got all the way to trial. The week before she needed $60k just to step in the courtroom. I already gave her $60k ... but she needed $60k just to step in the courtroom, so she dropped my case. I didn't have it."

"That's when I got a public defender," Oakman said.

Shawn, who had yet to sign a pro contract, went on to describe exactly the way he came up with the cash for his defense.

"Before that, basically I had one of my bowl game rings. I sold my bowl game ring on eBay to pay for my lawyer."

Oakman is now 27, has lost three insanely important years of his career, and might not ever get his NFL chance ... but he insists he's not at all depressed about the situation.

If Kyler Murray is thinking about using his first NFL paycheck to buy some crazy jewelry ... IT'S NOT A TERRIBLE IDEA!!!

... this according to Donald Trump's chief economic adviser, Larry Kudlow.

Kudlow -- the director of the National Economic Council -- was in D.C. when we asked if he could dish out some financial advice for the football stars about to become millionaires when the NFL Draft kicks off on Thursday night.

Of course, Kudlow encouraged all of the players to get good financial advisers and invest ... but he also got SPECIFIC about where the players should put their money!

"Buy the indexes and hold them," Kudlow said.

"Buy the broad indexes! They're cheap ... don't buy a million, but buy SOME and hold them ... and bet on America!"

As for the jewelry stuff ... Kudlow laughed at first, but then got serious and told us, "Actually, a good portfolio SHOULD have some gold!"

See that, GET THAT BLING!!!

We also asked Kudlow if Russell Wilson buying $12,000 in Amazon stock for all 13 of his Seattle Seahawks linemen is a good idea ... and you gotta hear Kudlow's response.

Remember, Kudlow's boss, Donald Trump, HATES Amazon's top guy, Jeff Bezos -- which makes Kudlow's answer all the more interesting.

Not everyone is a fan of Wilson's gift -- we spoke with actors Michael Ealy and Meagan Good ... and it's clear some people think Russ should have cut BIGGER checks, considering he just signed a $140 MILLION contract.

But hey, a gift is a gift ... right?

Soulja Boy's sitting in a jail cell, but even from there he can smell something fishy back at his house -- and it's that $500k burglary ... which he's now convinced was pulled off by someone close to him.

Sources close to the rapper tell TMZ ... peeps on his team have analyzed the home surveillance and say there's evidence the burglars had some inside information because they knew when to strike, where to enter the house and beelined it straight for his safe.

As we first told you ... the crooks hit Soulja Boy's crib in the San Fernando Valley after he was locked up on a probation violation earlier this month. They made off with jewelry, cash and his iPhone -- which they promptly used to go live on Soulja's IG account. Real rocket scientists.

We're told on the day of the crime, Soulja's team left the house for 3 hours, and the burglars broke in about half an hour before they returned. We're told surveillance video shows the thieves were lightning fast, taking only 5 minutes to get in, hit the safe and make a clean getaway.

Soulja Boy's home is in a secluded location, which we're told is pretty hard to find unless you've been there before. The final "inside job" straw for Soulja is the burglars entered through a door that was damaged during the February police raid at his place.

Our sources say cops have the security cam footage. As for the house -- Soulja's adding security and we're told the damaged door's been fixed.

A Ty Cobb baseball card more than ONE HUNDRED years old just sold for -- are you sitting down??? -- a whopping $504k!!! ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The card is Ty Cobb's 1915 Cracker Jack card ... and it's one of only three of its kind to ever receive a Mint 9 rating from PSA ... which is just one step below the perfect Gem Mint 10.

If you think coughing up half a milli for a baseball card is insane, just remember the Honus Wagner card holds the record for the most expensive baseball card at $3.12 million!!!

The Cobb card -- sold via Heritage Auctions -- fetched $504k, which is around $70k more than when another was sold back in 2017.

Fred Savage is no longer being sued for allegedly assaulting and harassing a female crew member on his TV show ... and all signs are pointing to a settlement.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the court signed off on the lawsuit's dismissal ... and the key thing here is the suit's being dismissed with prejudice, which means it's likely Savage and the woman who sued him reached a settlement out of court.

TMZ broke the story ... Youngjoo Hwang sued Savage back in March 2018 for allegedly tormenting female crew members on the set of his TV show, "The Grinder." She claimed he had a rep for intimidating women working under him, hurling profanities and telling them, "Don't ever even f**king look at me anymore!"

When the suit was filed, Savage denied Hwang's accusations, saying they were without merit and completely untrue. Savage said her claims were investigated by FOX, but he says the network found no evidence backing her story.

Hwang's attorney, Anahita Sedaghatfar, tells TMZ ... "We are very pleased with the resolution reached in this case. My client stood on the shoulders of the brave women who came out before her during the inception of the #metoo movement and I hope she serves as an example to other women so they too can have the courage to come out and speak their truth."

We reached out to lawyers for Savage ... so far, no word back.

5:52 PM PT -- A source tells TMZ, Travis Scott and DJ Paul spoke on Tuesday and the resolution is expected shortly ... a rep for Travis confirms the conversation happened, but would not elaborate on details.

Travis Scott straight-up jacked a portion of Three 6 Mafia's DJ Paul's track ... so claims DJ Paul in a new lawsuit.

Paul filed legal docs claiming Travis' "No Bystanders" has a hook that's almost identical to DJ Paul's track "Tear Da Club Up." According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Paul says the hook to his track says "Tear da club up, tear da club up" while Travis' track goes "F*** da club up. F*** da club up."

In docs, Paul claims the cadence and sound are virtually identical. What's more ... Paul says Travis used his exact hook from "Tear Da Club Up" for his Grammys performance earlier this year ... line by line.

"No Bystanders" is a part of Travis' massively successful "Astroworld" album ... which debuted No. 1 on The Billboard 200 chart. It was also a fan favorite during the rapper's 55-city tour.

In a previous interview with us in June DJ Paul claimed young artists were going to kill hip-hop ... but it doesn't appear like the lawsuit is in direct correlation to that statement.

Paul's now suing to get Travis' track pulled and wants the profits from "No Bystanders" ... which he thinks is around $20 million. We've reached out to Travis' rep, so far no word back.

Nearly $12 MILLION worth of fake championship and team rings are now OFF the market ... so say U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials -- who say they just seized 177 counterfeit pieces!

CBP officials announced Tuesday they found nearly 200 fake rings during an inspection of a March 11 shipment from China to the U.S.

The faux bling included Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots Super Bowl rings, New York Yankees World Series rings and much more.

And, we gotta say ... they do look pretty awesome.

But, officials say they caught the stuff before it could be sold to Americans -- claiming they saved U.S. consumers $11.7 MILLION with the seizure!!!

"This most recent interception of counterfeit sports rings demonstrates the ongoing vigilance and commitment to the mission by our CBP Officers and Import Specialists," officials said.

One of the rarest pieces of Freddie Mercury memorabilia is now up for sale ... and it's the only set list personally written by the Queen frontman to ever hit the market.

Freddie's handwritten list of Queen hits from a 1978 concert in Copenhagen, Denmark, is going up for sale through the memorabilia company, Moments in Time -- and they're hawking this rock 'n roll treasure for a hefty price tag of $35,000.

The 2-page set list from Queen's show used to belong to a private collector, but he or she's decided it's time to unload it.

Sure, the price tag sounds steep -- because it is -- but trust us, there's good content in here that's worth your hard-earned money. Freddie scribbled down the names of some of Queen's biggest hits, including "We Will Rock You," "Tie Your Mother Down" and "Bohemian Rhapsody."

Of course, the set list also comes with a letter of authenticity from the official Queen fan club.

It's funny ... the final note written at the bottom of the setlist reads, "Hotel!!" Guess Freddie was looking forward to tucking in -- or, more likely, partying like a rock star -- after the show.

Forget watches, luggage and fancy booze ... Russell Wilson just thanked his Seahawks offensive line with the most Prime gift ever -- $12,000 in Amazon stock each!!

Remember, Wilson just signed a 4-year, $140 MILLION contract -- making the QB the highest paid player in the NFL.

So, to thank the guys who protect his ass, Russell busted out the credit card and spent a grand total of $156,000 on his 13 offensive linemen, TMZ Sports has learned.

Each player got a letter with the stock gift explaining why #3 hooked them up.

"Every Sunday we go to battle together," Wilson wrote ... "You sacrifice your physical and mental well-being to protect me, which in turn allows me to provide and care for my family."

"This does not go unnoticed and it is never forgotten."

Russell says he wants to help his teammates prepare for life after football and believes stock in Amazon will help these players achieve their dreams.

"When I sat down to think of ways to honor your dedication a dozen different ideas came to mind. Some were flashy, some were cool, but I wanted to give you something that had a lasting impact. Something that would affect the lives of you, your family, and your children."

"You have invested in my life ... this is my investment into yours."

Kid Cudi just wrapped up a very busy weekend at Coachella, but he still found time to feed the needy ... with a huge assist from Postmates.

The rapper got things started off on the right foot in the California desert Friday night by ordering $10k worth of Popeyes chicken, biscuits, mashed potatoes and fries to provide to the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission.

The delivery service dropped off a carload of food to the shelter, which serves hundreds of homeless people in Indio ... and they all got a nice hot meal this weekend thanks to Cudi's generosity.

The good vibes kept going for the rapper, too -- he performed a set at Coachella Saturday night and was part of Kanye West's Sunday Service for Easter the next morning.

Jaime Lannister is not long for the final season of "Game of Thrones" -- at least according to Oddsmakers -- but there's still some doubt over who will kill the "Kingslayer."

According to the cyber-gambling site, SportsBetting.ag, Jaime's favored to perish first with 5/1 odds. What a difference 2 weeks make ... Jaime opened the season as a long shot, at 50/1 odds, to die first.

Jaime is also the new favorite to be Arya Stark's first kill of the season, with 2/1 odds. Arya freaked everyone out over the weekend when she ditched her clothes for her first sex scene, but she still hasn't killed anyone yet this season.

Jaime's really gotta watch his back ... in addition to Arya, he's gotta worry about the Night King and the army of the dead descending on Winterfell in the next episode. Oh, and his sister, Cersei Lannister, already hired Ser Bronn to kill him.

It's no wonder Jaime's odds to sit on the Iron Throne keep decreasing ... he's now a long shot at 33/1 after entering the season with 14/1 odds.

Speaking of the Iron Throne ... Daenerys Targaryen now has 5/1 odds to rule Westeros. She had 3/1 odds last week, but (SPOILER ALERT!) Jon Snow just dropped a bombshell and told her he's the rightful heir of House Targaryen.

9:18 AM PT -- A source close to R. Kelly tells us the Rolls isn't his.

R. Kelly's struggling to make ends meet and facing possible jail time if he can't come up with child support soon -- but if he's sweating, he sure as hell ain't showing it.

The troubled singer was out on Easter Sunday chilling in front of his Trump Tower condo building in Chicago. He puffed on a cigar, right down to the stub, while chatting on his cell phone.

He also happens to be sitting right next to a Rolls-Royce. We don't know that it's his, but image is everything.

We broke the story ... jail could be looming for Kelly again after failing to pay child support to his ex, Drea Kelly, the past 2 months. He's required to pay her $20,833 a month, and although he's asking the judge to lower the amount ... he's on the hook for now. The judge will hear his case next month, though.

As you know, Kelly was jailed in early March after racking up a $161,633 child support delinquency ... shortly after he was arrested on sexual abuse charges. He was released after someone covered his tab.

Nicolas Cage's estranged wife doesn't give a damn they were only married for half a week before he filed for an annulment -- she says it still counts ... and she wants his money.

Erika Koike filed legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- responding to the actor filing for an annulment last month just 4 days after they were wed in Las Vegas. As we told you ... Cage claims he "reacted on impulse and without the ability to recognize or understand the full impact of his actions," and also says the marriage was based on fraud.

Koike calls BS, claiming Nic's impulsive actions don't qualify for an annulment. As for the alleged fraud, she says Cage asked her to start again "in the right way" just 12 days after filing for an annulment ... proving their relationship's legit.

Here's the thing ... Erika agrees the 2 aren't fit for marriage and should get a divorce, but she wants SPOUSAL SUPPORT!!! According to the docs ... she says she lost career opportunities during her long relationship with Cage and her reputation's been damaged by his allegations.

She's also asking him to pay for her legal fees.

As we reported ... Nic and Erika got hitched on March 23, but were seen having an apparently heated argument moments before the wedding. They began dating in April 2018.

Brody Jenner has zero doubt Kim Kardashian will one day be a great lawyer who skillfully represents her clients in court -- he just doesn't want to be one of those clients.

We got Brody out Sunday at LAX and had to ask him about Kim's aspirations to become a lawyer in the next couple of years. As you know ... she's studying for the bar exam and says, so far, she's kicking ass. Even though Brody and Kim don't really talk much since their parents split, he still has high praise for his former stepsister.

But check out the vid ... after Brody was done praising her, he explained why under NO circumstances does he ever want to have to pay Kim a retainer fee. And no, he's not looking for freebies.

Kodak Black's bust at the Canada-U.S. border could have HUGE ramifications ... in South Carolina.

Sources in the Florence County Solicitor’s Office tell TMZ ... prosecutors in the Palmetto State have the rapper's drugs and gun bust on their radar and are currently reviewing the case to determine if he violated bond conditions in his sexual misconduct case.

We're told if it's determined Kodak violated the terms, prosecutors would hold a hearing where they'll ask a judge to revoke his bond. Last we checked, prosecutors have yet to do that.

As we reported ... Kodak was indicted in April 2017 after he was accused of sexually assaulting a teenager at a hotel in South Carolina. He's been out on $100k bond ever since.

Fast forward to earlier this week ... cops found a Glock 9mm pistol and weed in the Cadillac Escalade the rapper was driving after he tried crossing back on U.S. soil at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge.

As we told you ... Kodak blamed his damn GPS for making him drive into Canada. He posted a $20k cash bond and hid behind a wad of cash as he left jail.