For the last two years, there’s been a lot of speculation regarding Tom Brady’s role with the Las Vegas Raiders. He’s a minority owner, but there are rumors that he’s effectively running the show.
When the Raiders fired head coach Pete Carroll, owner Mark Davis put out a statement that said Brady and general manager John Spytek were tasked with finding the next head coach. Even if his influence is exaggerated, it’s clear that Brady is at least somewhat involved in football decisions.
However, it doesn’t sound like he was very much involved in day-to-day football operations during the season. Running back Raheem Mostert was with the team all season, and he offered some insight into what exactly Brady’s role is and how involved he is.
“Not as much involved as you would think,” Mostert said on Yahoo! Sports Daily. “But I think for him being a first-time part owner of the organization, he just wanted to see how it goes. He wanted to see what it feels like to be in that role. … But now, I feel like this next year, he’s really gonna take his time and really put his expertise on the table and say, ‘hey, look, this is what we need to do.'”
Do Raiders Need Brady to Be Involved More?
Whether the Raiders like it or not, the perception is that Brady is running the team’s football side of things. That’s not necessarily a problem. Brady is arguably the greatest football player ever and is widely respected around the NFL.
The problem is that it still feels like Brady has one foot in and one foot out. He doesn’t live in Las Vegas and continues to work as a commentator for FOX. It’s going to be difficult to be fully involved while he still works for FOX. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Brady’s role has led to some concern from coaching candidates.
“Las Vegas … you’ve got Tom Brady ostensibly running the football operation along with John Spytek. That’s directly a quote from owner Mark Davis. And yet, people come out of those interviews just going, ‘Who exactly is running the building?’” Pelissero said on the “Rich Eisen Show.”
“What exactly … what am I looking at here? Tom [Brady] lives in Miami. How is he co-running the football operations from 2000 miles away? Again, and in a really tough division where you’re going up against Sean Payton, and Andy Reid and Jim Harbaugh.”
Brady Should Allow Spytek to Run Things
If Brady is going to continue to work at FOX, he should be deferring to general manager John Spytek. He’s in the building every day and has been working in front offices for a very long time.
The two also worked together on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and were teammates at Michigan, so there should be trust there. It doesn’t hurt to have some of Brady’s input, but Spytek is more qualified to be running a football team. It’s possible that this is exactly the case right now, but the perception is that Brady is making all the calls.
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