Never a dull moment for the Las Vegas Raiders. In an upcoming appearance on ‘The Shop’, Tom Brady makes a pretty bold statement regarding his free agency experience …
“One of the teams, they weren’t interested at the very end. I was thinking, ‘You’re sticking with that motherf–ker?’â€@TomBrady kept receipts on his free agency 🤠@brgridiron#TheShopHBO premieres Friday at 9:30pm on @hbomax pic.twitter.com/lDW8ywrLLP
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 21, 2021
Oh boy. Now, Tom was indeed pursued by a few teams in free agency en route to signing with Tampa Bay and winning the world title against Patrick Mahomes. He was a hot commodity despite his age so you have to wonder: is he talking about Derek Carr and the Raiders here?
The Raiders were in hot pursuit of Brady, or so according to the rumors that swirled in the offseason. If not the Raiders, who is TB12 referring to in this statement? There are a few teams in play here and it’s not good for any of them.
The Bears
The Bears were a sleeper pick for Brady as he selected his new team. They had Mitch Trubisky under center and were in desperate need of an upgrade. Chicago boasted both a great defense and solid roster that could’ve won with the addition of Brady.
Did the Bears pull out of their pursuit? They eventually traded for Nick Foles and went nowhere in 2020. Not giving Brady a shot in favor of trading for a lesser quarterback or keeping Mitch is completely dumbfounding. It would make sense that Tom bears a little grudge toward Matt Nagy and co. for not giving him a shot over who they had playing quarterback.
The 49ers
It would have been a match made in heaven. Kyle Shanahan’s offense and the signal-caller raised a 49ers fan leading his once-favorite team to the promised land. They had all the pieces in place on defense as well. It’s hard to imagine San Francisco not having a real shot at the Lombardi Trophy with #12 running the show.
Ultimately, the two sides never came to a deal. The 49ers were said to have been content standing by Jimmy G rather than signing Brady. His statement on ‘The Shop’ was pretty terse and almost incredulous. Would he make that kind of statement towards his former backup Jimmy Garoppolo?
Garoppolo was outed from New England because of Brady’s extended tenure so who knows? Tom got what he wanted out of the Patriots at the time, so it’s hard to imagine much animosity toward the individual. Maybe towards John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan?
The Raiders
Deep down in Raider fan’s hearts, there’s a stinging sensation that wonders: Was Brady calling out Gruden and Carr here? According to insiders, the Raiders did make an offer to Tom Brady despite having Carr on the roster. It would have been an intriguing combo seeing TB12 manning Gruden’s West Coast offense.
Vic Tafur wrote that the Raiders weren’t a serious contender in Tom’s eyes, but also that the Raiders didn’t like what they saw on film from Brady at age 42. That would certainly ruffle some feathers for someone as deeply competitive as Brady.
A statement like that would have him seething. Having won numerous titles, it’s not out of the realm of imagination to think he would be enraged at the thought of being brushed aside for Carr when having their play compared side-by-side. We don’t know how much respect he does or doesn’t have for Carr but when pride is involved, all bets are off.
Would the Raiders have been better with Tom? That’s a question every die-hard in Raider Nation has a different answer to.
Perhaps we find out more this Friday when the episode releases. But for now, Carr apologists and haters are certainly reading two sides of a coin.
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*Top Photo: L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal