Former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was incredibly close to joining the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020 free agency, according to multiple sources. We all know that Brady ended up going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he won a Super Bowl in 2021, but a new, comprehensive summary of Brady’s dealings with the Raiders indicates that Las Vegas may have been his destination of choice.
Bleacher Report’s Joseph Zucker put out an astute report on Thursday that did well to bring together all the best intel on Brady’s almost-deal with the Raiders five years ago.
Zucker cited a Mark Davis quote from a recent interview, in which Davis revealed that Brady was “close” to joining the Raiders, except that Jon Gruden (Raiders head coach at the time) and Mike Mayock (GM at the time) blocked it from happening.
“We talked to him about coming here to play quarterback,” Davis said, per Zucker. “Obviously, it was a tough decision, he was close to coming here, but the head coach and general manager decided they wanted to go in a different direction. So, we didn’t sign him … I let his agent know that when he was done playing, I would like him to be a part of our organization.”
Zucker also cited comments made by UFC president Dana White in 2022 about Gruden preventing both Brady and Rob Gronkowski from joining the Raiders.
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Zucker also pointed to comments made by former Raiders tight end Darren Waller, who told Forbes in 2023 that Brady “was a lock” to join the Raiders, according to multiple sources Waller heard from.
In case you forgot, the Raiders’ quarterback at the time was Derek Carr, which means that Gruden felt more confident in Carr than in an aging Brady, a decision which looks pretty darn awful in hindsight.
Brady ended up in a better situation with the Bucs (with a Super Bowl ring to show for it), but it still would have been interesting to see TB12 donning one of the most classic NFL uniforms.
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Or, of course, to have seen him simply remain a Patriot.
