According to Tashan Reed of The Athletic, Tom Brady, the Las Vegas Raiders’ minority owner with a significant voice, has become “heavily involved in the Raiders’ overall decision-making process.”
Brady’s presence at Maxx Crosby’s contract signing on Wednesday, as noted by Reed, “is a signal that he’ll be present in the building this offseason.” This increased involvement can be seen, in part, as an effort to compensate for his limited availability during the regular season, due to his $37.5 million per year commitment as Fox’s lead game analyst.
Should Tom Brady’s Recent Failures Worry The Las Vegas Raiders
Brady is anticipated to play a role in the team’s free-agent pursuits. However, his initial attempts to influence key acquisitions have been unsuccessful, as evidenced by the Raiders’ failure to secure Ben Johnson and Matthew Stafford.
On a recent episode of “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” Bill Simmons expressed concerns about the potential pitfalls of the Las Vegas Raiders granting Tom Brady excessive influence over personnel decisions, especially given their pressing need to secure a quarterback this offseason. Simmons characterized this level of control as “dangerous.”
“I love Tom Brady. Brought me six Super Bowls, one of my favorite athletes of all time,” Simmons said before doling out a warning. “This is a dangerous thing where you have him running a football team thinking he knows what’s best with quarterbacks because he was a great quarterback. Because all of the evidence with the great players we’ve had, name the sport, mostly they’re not good at this. They think they’re seeing things that other people don’t see, and it’s not actually rational.”
Nevertheless, his presence may have positively influenced Maxx Crosby’s decision to remain patient with the team’s rebuilding efforts, which could be considered a valuable contribution.
Ultimately, the Raiders will need to achieve greater success in their personnel decisions to establish a foundation for on-field victories.