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Tom Brady dedicated 23 NFL seasons to a singular objective: becoming the most accomplished QB in NFL history. He achieved that goal. Today, in retirement, Brady has ventured into various pursuits. He serves as a commentator for a major network. He's involved in development ventures in the UK. He has promoted digital assets. He's spreading the NFL to Saudi Arabia. He maintains a popular YouTube channel. He even cloned his dog. Brady's post-career activities appear either diverse or unfocused, depending on your perspective.

Side projects are understandable. But overseeing a NFL team is hardly a casual commitment. Alongside his various responsibilities, Brady functions as the unofficial decision-maker for the Las Vegas franchise, presently the least successful team in the league.

The Raiders dropped to 2–9 on Sunday after suffering a 24-10 defeat to the Cleveland Browns. The Raiders didn't just lose; they were embarrassed by a underperforming team with a quarterback making his first NFL start. The Raiders' offense averaged 2.9 yards per play before garbage-time plays in the fourth quarter. Geno Smith was sacked 10 times and was pressured 46 times, a season record for any franchise this year. On defense, Las Vegas surrendered big plays to a Cleveland offensive unit that has been dysfunctional for most of the season. Any way you slice it, it was a comprehensive beatdown. At least Brady didn't have to witness it. The primary decision-maker of this latest Vegas mess was sitting in Dallas on the network coverage for Eagles-Cowboys.

A Collection of Dubious Decisions

To be fair to Brady, he has only been involved for a year leading the team's personnel choices, after becoming a minority owner of the organization in 2024. But he was accountable for every significant move last summer, and all of them has proven unsuccessful. Those moves have resulted in the Raiders as the most unwatchable and aimless franchise in the league.

This wasn't supposed to be a multi-year rebuild. The Raiders didn't appoint 74-year-old Pete Carroll, one of only three coaches to win both a Super Bowl and a college national championship, to oversee a protracted process back up the standings. He was expected to return the team to competitiveness and then hand them off with a stable base in place. Conversely, Carroll is staring at the possibility of being fired after one season in Vegas, and the Raiders are looking at another reboot.

Franchise Turmoil

This isn't all Brady's fault, naturally. Mark Davis is still the controlling stakeholder. Davis has churned through coaches and executives at a speed that would make even the Jets feel embarrassed. The Raiders are on their seventh coach and fifth GM in 15 years, a instability that has eliminated any coherent long-term vision. Nevertheless, it's Brady's fingerprints that are evident throughout this iteration of the Raiders. "This is the Tom Brady show," NFL Insider Tom Pelissero commented last summer. "He's been deeply engaged," Carroll said of Brady at his introductory news conference in January. "This is his chance to put his stamp on a franchise."

Brady was responsible for the crucial appointments and placed the Raiders on this rudderless course. He hired John Spytek, his college buddy and co-worker in Tampa, to serve as GM. He approved a team strategy to the coach's specifications, including trading a draft selection for Geno Smith and drafting a RB No 6 overall despite having a poor-performing offensive line. He lured Chip Kelly away from the college ranks, making him the top-earning OC in the NFL. And he signed off on handing a flaky offensive line – the bedrock for that coordinator and ball carrier – to the coach's family member.

Catastrophic Outcomes

It's been a complete failure. The previous year's Raiders were a team with limited success, but they were competitive and competitive. The current Raiders are a disorganized situation. Carroll has installed an outdated defensive scheme, Smith looks washed and the Raiders' blocking unit has undermined any aspirations for Ashton Jeanty and the ground attack. At the very least, Carroll was supposed to bring energy. But the Raiders were lifeless on Sunday, counting down the plays to the conclusion of the game.

The difference with Cleveland was stark. Things are always bleak with the Browns, but there are embers of hope. Their star defender, now just five quarterback takedowns away from the NFL single-season record, leads a formidable defense. And there is optimism around the stellar-looking first-year players that includes multiple promising talents – a dynamic runner at RB and a skilled defender at LB. There is also the rookie QB, who may not be the permanent solution at QB, but who is a viable option in the short-term.

Granted, it was against the Raiders' defense, but Sanders showed that the NFL level was not overwhelming for him. With a complete preparation period to prepare, he was solid, taking what the defense gave him and showing flashes of creativity. Sanders became the first Browns rookie quarterback to win his debut game since 1995.

Lack of Vision

Sanders and the rest of the Browns' first-year players symbolize future potential. That's a mirror the Raiders don't want to look into. Good organizations understand their position in the ecosystem: you're either a championship candidate, a frisky playoff team, or undergoing reconstruction. Vegas entered 2025 believing they were a couple of moves away from respectability. In spite of the clear indications otherwise, they failed to adjust during the season. Like Cleveland, Vegas should be playing young players to discover what they have for the coming years. But only two first-year players have seen real playing time. There has apparently already been disagreement between the coaches and the management regarding the limited playing time for two young blockers, despite the offensive line being a sieve. First-year pass catchers Jack Bech and Dont'e Thornton Jr have totaled nine receptions in eleven contests, despite the ineffectiveness in the passing game. Carroll continues to roll out experienced veterans on defense over young players in need of experience.

Uncertain Future

Where is the future direction? Will Carroll be back or Spytek or the quarterback? And who truly decides those choices, Brady or Davis? How can a team operate when its most powerful decision-maker participates sporadically, approves major organizational decisions, and then disappears on other projects?

It's going to be a challenge for the Raiders to improve – and they are in a division stacked with perennial playoff contenders. Meanwhile, other reconstructing teams have paths. The New York Jets are stocked with future draft picks. The Titans and Giants have talented young QBs. The Raiders have nothing. No core. No franchise QB. No distinctive style. No plan.

The single factor more problematic than being bad in the NFL is not knowing you're bad. The Raiders don't know where they are, what they are building, or who will call the shots in the offseason.

Tom Brady once mastered football through ruthless focus. The Raiders could use more than limited attention of it.