The Las Vegas Raiders underwent a complete and utter transformation this offseason, starting at the very top. They hired Pete Carroll as their new head coach, hired a new general manager in John Spytek, and fired Antonio Pierce after an awful 4-13 campaign in 2024. Minorite owner, Tom Brady, played a big role in reshaping this team.
The Raiders also traded for former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith. Brady played a big role in this as well, blocking the Raiders from signing Sam Darnold instead. Recently, NFL insider Albert Breer discussed how Brady’s influence is growing as a Raiders minority owner.
NFL Insider Discusses How Tom Brady’s Influence Is Growing As A Raiders Minority Owner
In his first full offseason as a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, Tom Brady’s role has slowly come together. From the financial side of things, the presence of Brady has brought in some big-money minority owners, such as Tom Wagner, Silver Lake CEO Egon Durban, and Discovery Land founder Michael Meldman.
All of them combined helped put the Raiders in a much more favorable spot entering the 2025 NFL season. This includes making the team much more attractive for coaches and executives. Since then, Brady’s helped remotely and has been a valuable resource for Pete Carroll and John Spytek.
Damn: Raiders minority owner Tom Brady did NOT want the team to sign Sam Darnold in free agency:
“While some believed the Las Vegas Raiders would try to sign Darnold, minority owner Tom Brady—a seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback whose opinion held great sway—was not in… pic.twitter.com/jGXCfqFA16
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) June 21, 2025
Perhaps his biggest help this offseason came in landing Geno Smith instead of Sam Darnold. The Raiders traded for Smith and selected running back Ashton Jeanty with the sixth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. He’s now set to lead the Raiders, but a recent report says the team was interested in Sam Darnold before Brady intervened.
Brady, in fact, FaceTimed Smith right after the deal went through, inviting him to his house in Miami and also going through what he liked about Smith’s game, clearly showing that he’d done all the homework.
Veteran NFL reporter Michael Silver recently wrote a piece for The Athletic detailing Darnold’s journey from failed first-round pick to MVP candidate last season before landing in Seattle. Silver wrote:
“The Seahawks’ pursuit of Darnold snuck up on many NFL observers and proceeded in rapid-fire fashion.
“While some believed the Las Vegas Raiders would try to sign Darnold, minority owner Tom Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback whose opinion held great sway, was not in favor of that approach, according to a source familiar with the franchise’s internal discussions.”
Silver didn’t explain why Brady opposed signing Darnold, but the Raiders are set for 2025 with the reunited Carroll and Smith.
“I’ve always really been hard on myself about being able to play the game without using all the physical attributes,” Geno Smith told Breer in April. “And from watching my tape, that’s something that he noticed, how I handle protections and can get in and out of plays. We ran a very intricate system [last year]. It was our first year in the system, but we didn’t hold back on anything. And I think that’s something that he recognized, he noticed.
“Stuff from the neck up, decision-making, leadership, just all those things are the things that Tom talked to me about, reasons why they wanted me.” So, yes, quietly, Brady’s making his mark in Vegas.
Brady’s presence has helped to turn the Raiders franchise around in only his first full offseason as minority owner. It remains to be seen if it’ll help their on-field production. However, one thing we know for sure is that Raiders fans have a lot to be excited about ahead of the 2025 NFL season.