Tom Brady's Part-Time Involvement with the Las Vegas Raiders: An Unsettling Situation

Tom Brady dedicated 23 NFL seasons to a unwavering mission: establishing himself as the greatest quarterback in NFL history. He achieved that goal. Now, in retirement, Brady has ventured into various pursuits. He works as a broadcaster for Fox. He's involved in development ventures in Birmingham. He has promoted digital assets. He's spreading American football to Saudi Arabia. He operates a popular YouTube channel. He even cloned his dog. Brady's retirement activities appear either eclectic or unfocused, based on your viewpoint.

Side projects are understandable. But managing a NFL team is hardly a part-time job. In addition to his various responsibilities, Brady also serves as the de facto football leader for the Las Vegas franchise, currently the least successful team in the league.

The Raiders fell to 2–9 on Sunday after enduring a 24-10 defeat to the Cleveland Browns. The Raiders didn't just get defeated; they were humiliated by a struggling team with a QB making his first NFL start. The Raiders' offense averaged 2.9 yards per play before meaningless action in the fourth quarter. Geno Smith was tackled 10 times and faced pressure 46 times, a season record for any franchise this year. On the defensive side, Las Vegas allowed big plays to a Cleveland offensive unit that has been dysfunctional for most of the season. However you analyze it, it was a thorough domination. At least Brady didn't have to watch. The primary decision-maker of this current situation was working in Dallas on the Fox broadcast for Eagles-Cowboys.

A Collection of Questionable Choices

In fairness to Brady, he has only been involved for a year guiding the team's football decisions, after becoming a partial stakeholder of the organization in 2024. But he was responsible for every significant move last summer, and all of them has backfired. Those moves have resulted in the Raiders as the least entertaining and directionless franchise in the league.

This wasn't expected to be a multi-year rebuild. The Raiders didn't appoint veteran coach Pete Carroll, among a select group to win both a Super Bowl and a NCAA title, to manage a long slog back up the league table. He was expected to restore the team to relevance and then hand them off with a solid foundation in place. Instead, Carroll is staring at the possibility of being fired after one season in Vegas, and the Raiders are looking at another restart.

Franchise Dysfunction

This isn't entirely Brady's responsibility, naturally. The majority owner is still the controlling stakeholder. Davis has churned through head coaches and front-office heads at a speed that would make even the New York Jets feel embarrassed. The Raiders are on their seventh coach and fifth GM in 15 years, a instability that has erased any coherent long-term vision. Nevertheless, it's Brady's fingerprints that are evident throughout this iteration of the Raiders. "This is the Brady's project," league reporter Tom Pelissero said last summer. "He's been integrally involved," Carroll said of Brady at his introductory news conference in January. "This is his chance to put his stamp on a franchise."

Brady made the key hires and placed the Raiders on this directionless path. He hired John Spytek, his former teammate and colleague in Tampa, to serve as GM. He approved a team strategy to the coach's specifications, including dealing a draft selection for Smith and drafting a running back with the sixth pick despite having a poor-performing offensive line. He lured an offensive innovator away from the NCAA, making him the highest-paid offensive coordinator in the NFL. And he signed off on entrusting a flaky offensive line – the bedrock for that coach and running back – to Carroll's son.

Catastrophic Outcomes

It has become a disaster. Last season's Raiders were a team with limited success, but they were scrappy and resilient. The current Raiders are a confused mess. Carroll has implemented an old-fashioned defensive scheme, Smith looks washed and the Raiders' offensive line has undermined any hopes for their rookie and the run game. At the very least, Carroll was supposed to bring enthusiasm. But the Raiders were lifeless on Sunday, waiting for the snaps to the conclusion of the game.

The contrast with Cleveland was stark. Things are always bleak with the Browns, but there are embers of hope. Myles Garrett, now just five sacks away from the league all-time mark, leads a dominant defensive unit. And there is optimism around the stellar-looking first-year players that includes two potential stars – a dynamic runner at RB and Carson Schwesinger at LB. There is also Shedeur Sanders, who may not be The Answer at quarterback, but who is a viable option in the short-term.

Admittedly, it was against the Raiders' defensive unit, but Sanders showed that the stage was not too big for him. With a full week to get ready, he was solid, accepting what the opposition gave him and showing glimpses of creativity. Sanders became the first Cleveland rookie QB to win his debut game since 1995.

Absence of Vision

Sanders and the rest of the Browns' rookie class represent promise. That's a mirror the Raiders should avoid. Successful franchises understand their position in the ecosystem: you're either a contender, a competitive squad, or rebuilding. Vegas entered 2025 thinking they were a couple of moves away from competitiveness. In spite of the clear indications to the contrary, they haven't pivoted during the season. Like Cleveland, Vegas should be playing rookies to discover what they have for the future. But only two first-year players have seen real playing time. There has apparently already been disagreement between the coaches and the front office regarding the limited playing time for two rookie offensive linemen, despite the offensive line being a sieve. Rookie receivers two young talents have combined for nine receptions in eleven contests, despite the ineffectiveness in the passing game. Carroll continues to utilize grizzled vets on the defensive side over rookies in need of experience.

Unclear Future

Where is the future direction? Will the coach return or the GM or the quarterback? And who truly decides those choices, Brady or Davis? How can a team function when its primary influencer logs in occasionally, signs off major organizational decisions, and then disappears on other projects?

It's going to be a challenge for the Raiders to improve – and they are in a conference stacked with consistently successful teams. At the same time, other rebuilders have clear trajectories. The Jets are loaded with upcoming selections. The Tennessee and New York have talented young QBs. The Raiders have nothing. No core. No franchise QB. No distinctive style. No strategic vision.

The single factor more dangerous than being bad in the NFL is not knowing you're underperforming. The Raiders don't know where they are, what they are developing, or who will call the shots in the offseason.

Tom Brady once excelled at football through ruthless focus. The Raiders could use more than limited attention of it.