After Tom Brady left New England following the 2019 season, he ended up signing with the Buccaneers, but that almost didn’t happen, because he was reportedly headed somewhere else.
UFC president Dana White revealed that Brady was actually set to sign with the Raiders in 2020, but it never happened because Jon Gruden nixed the entire deal.
The Raiders were not done pursuing him. Jimmy Garoppolo would not be the starting QB for the team if the future hall-of-fame QB did not retire for a second time, according to a report from The Athletic’s Tashan Reed and Jeff Howe.
“The most logical path forward was to pursue Tom Brady,” they wrote about the Raiders’ offseason on Saturday. “He was in the midst of leading the Buccaneers to the playoffs for a third consecutive season, but it was the worst-kept secret in the NFL that it would be his final season with the franchise. Yes, he was a 45-year-old quarterback, but he was obviously still a damn good 45-year-old quarterback.”
The connection would’ve been too great to pass up as Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels won six Super bowls as an assistant coach with the New England Patriots.
“Beyond that, Brady also maintained a strong relationship with [general manager Dave] Ziegler — a longtime Patriots executive — and several other members of the front office,” wrote Reed and Howe.
“It would be relatively easy for the Raiders to acquire Brady. Regardless of if they traded or cut Carr, they were set to free up about $30 million in cap space. In his final year in Tampa Bay, Brady made $30 million. In short, if Brady wanted to come, the Raiders could make it happen.”
Despite him being retired, the rumors of him coming back have not been shut down, no matter what he says. It’s too late for him to join the Raiders unless Jimmy G gets himself injured like he has been prone to do throughout his career. Even then, many get the sense that Brady is truly done with the game. Once the season starts and ends is when the rumors will finally die.
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31-year-old Jimmy Garoppolo will now lead the charge in Las Vegas for the foreseeable future. He led the 49ers to the Super Bowl in the 2019 season.
