🔗 Share this article

Tom Brady committed 23 NFL seasons to a unwavering objective: becoming the most accomplished QB in league history. He accomplished that goal. Now, in retirement, Brady has explored numerous pursuits. He works as a commentator for Fox. He's engaged in development ventures in the UK. He has promoted cryptocurrency. He's spreading American football to Saudi Arabia. He maintains a popular YouTube channel. He even cloned his family pet. Brady's retirement ventures appear either eclectic or aimless, based on your perspective.

Secondary ventures are one thing. But managing a professional franchise is hardly a casual commitment. Alongside his various responsibilities, Brady functions as the unofficial football leader for the Raiders, presently the most hapless team in the NFL.

The Raiders fell to 2–9 on this past weekend after suffering a 24-10 defeat to the Cleveland Browns. The Raiders didn't just lose; they were embarrassed by a struggling team with a QB making his first NFL start. The Raiders' offensive unit averaged less than three yards per play before meaningless plays in the final period. Their quarterback was tackled 10 times and faced pressure 46 times, a season record for any team this year. On the defensive side, Las Vegas allowed significant gains to a Cleveland offense that has been ineffective for the majority of the season. However you analyze it, it was a comprehensive beatdown. Fortunately Brady didn't have to watch. The primary decision-maker of this latest Vegas mess was working in Dallas on the Fox broadcast for Eagles-Cowboys.

A Series of Dubious Decisions

To be fair to Brady, he has only been involved for a year guiding the team's football decisions, after becoming a minority owner of the organization in 2024. But he was accountable for every significant move last summer, and all of them has proven unsuccessful. Those decisions have left the Raiders as the least entertaining and aimless team in the NFL.

This wasn't supposed to be a lengthy reconstruction. The Raiders didn't hire 74-year-old Pete Carroll, among a select group to win both a Super Bowl and a college national championship, to oversee a long slog back up the league table. He was expected to restore the team to competitiveness and then hand them off with a solid foundation in place. Instead, Carroll is staring at the prospect of being one-and-done in Vegas, and the Raiders are looking at another restart.

Organizational Turmoil

This isn't all Brady's fault, naturally. The majority owner is still the controlling stakeholder. Davis has cycled through coaches and executives at a speed that would make even the Jets blush. The Raiders are on their seventh coach and fifth GM in 15 years, a instability that has erased any coherent long-term vision. Still, it's Brady's influence that are all over this iteration of the Raiders. "This is the Tom Brady show," league reporter a prominent journalist commented last summer. "He's been deeply engaged," Carroll said of Brady at his first press conference in January. "This is his opportunity to leave his mark on a team."

Brady made the key hires and placed the Raiders on this directionless path. He appointed John Spytek, his former teammate and colleague in Tampa, to act as general manager. He greenlit a team strategy to Carroll's preference, including dealing a draft selection for Smith and selecting 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 top-earning offensive coordinator in the league. And he approved handing a flaky offensive line – the foundation for that coordinator and running back – to Carroll's son.

Catastrophic Outcomes

It has become a complete failure. Last season's Raiders were a four-win team, but they were scrappy and resilient. The current Raiders are a confused mess. Carroll has installed an outdated defensive philosophy, Smith looks washed and the Raiders' blocking unit has submarined any aspirations for Ashton Jeanty and the run game. At the very least, Carroll was expected to bring enthusiasm. But the Raiders were uninspired on Sunday, waiting for the snaps to the end of the game.

The contrast with Cleveland was pronounced. Things are always bleak with the Browns, but there are glimmers of optimism. Myles Garrett, now just five quarterback takedowns away from the NFL single-season record, leads a formidable defense. And there is positive outlook around the impressive first-year players that includes multiple promising talents – a dynamic runner at RB and a skilled defender at linebacker. There is also Shedeur Sanders, who may not be the permanent solution at quarterback, but who is a viable option in the immediate future.

Admittedly, it was facing the Raiders' defense, but Sanders demonstrated that the NFL level was not too big for him. With a full week to prepare, he was effective, taking what the opposition gave him and showing glimpses of improvisation. Sanders became the first Cleveland rookie QB to win his debut game since 1995.

Lack of Vision

The rookie quarterback and his classmates of the Browns' rookie class symbolize promise. That's a reflection the Raiders don't want to look into. Successful franchises recognize their position in the ecosystem: you're either a championship candidate, a competitive squad, or rebuilding. Vegas entered 2025 thinking they were a couple of moves away from respectability. In spite of the clear indications otherwise, they failed to adjust midstream. Like Cleveland, Vegas should be throwing out rookies to discover what they have for the future. But only two rookies have seen significant action. There has apparently already been disagreement between the coaches and the management regarding the lack of action for two young blockers, despite the offensive line being a sieve. First-year pass catchers two young talents have totaled nine receptions in eleven contests, despite the lack of spark in the passing game. Carroll continues to utilize grizzled vets on the defensive side over young players in need of reps.

Unclear Direction

Where is the path forward? Will the coach return or the GM or Smith? And who truly decides those decisions, Brady or Davis? How can a franchise operate when its most powerful decision-maker logs in occasionally, approves major organizational decisions, and then disappears on other projects?

It's going to be a struggle for the Raiders to improve – and they are in a division stacked with perennial playoff contenders. At the same time, other rebuilders have paths. The New York Jets are loaded with upcoming selections. The Tennessee and New York have promising young quarterbacks. The Raiders have little to build upon. No foundation. No franchise QB. No distinctive style. No plan.

The single factor more dangerous than being ineffective in the NFL is not knowing you're underperforming. The Raiders lack clarity on where they are, what they are developing, or who will make decisions in the summer.

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