The Las Vegas Raiders were widely mentioned as a front-runner for Tom Brady if he went to free agency, but the NFL legend decided to call it quits (for good, this time) in February.
Brady played out the final year of his contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the club’s disappointing year (8-9, lost to Dallas in the Wild Card Round), convinced many that Brady would seek a new home, had he decided to continue playing.
Speaking on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast (h/t of Abhimanyu Chaudhary Sportskeeda), Hondo S. Carpenter of Sports Illustrated reported that the Raiders were confident Brady would sign with them in 2023 free agency.
However, his retirement derailed their plans and forced them to go with plan C, Jimmy Garoppolo:
“I’m not going to get into a ton of detail. I can’t. So if you choose not to believe this, that’s fine…There was no tampering, but the Raiders believed they were getting Tom Brady and had every reason to think that…I said (last season) you don’t get rid of a Derek Carr for a Jimmy Garoppolo and that was not the plan…
Then some things transpired in Tom Brady’s life that made him coming and quarterbacking the Raiders to not be an option. That was not the Raiders fault. They had planned on Tom Brady. Go out and get a rookie. Develop him behind Brady and keep moving…
So, their third choice was Jimmy Garoppolo. I’m not going to get into no. 2 for a while. I will one day get into who no. 2 was. I’m not getting into no. 2 today. It’s not something that’s of importance… I’m not going to beat up on this organization for not getting Tom Brady because I know some things that happened behind the scenes that is absolutely not their fault…
I’m not going to share things behind the curtain that they have no control over. I know they wouldn’t have let Derek (Carr) go if they thought Jimmy was (going to be) the guy. I know that.”
The Raiders wound up releasing starter Derek Carr after nine years and replaced him with Garoppolo, who signed a three-year pact in free agency. The Raiders’ change at QB stunned many, given that Carr has been the better quarterback, while Garoppolo has constantly struggled with consistency and staying healthy.
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Brady is working towards purchasing a stake in the Raiders’ ownership, but several hiccups along the way have prevented the deal from getting finalized. Brady is also part owner of the WNBA’s Las Vegas, who are also owned by Raiders owner Mark Davis.
The Raiders will try to get back to .500 on Monday night when they visit the Detroit Lions.
