Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio thinks Tom Brady’s broadcast job doubled as a job interview, and the Las Vegas Raiders were the ones hiring.
Florio is raising questions about how Brady’s TV gig factored into Klint Kubiak becoming the Raiders’ head coach. Writing for Pro Football Talk, Florio cited a Seattle source suggesting Las Vegas may not have landed Kubiak at all if not for Brady’s access to him through Fox Sports. Brady worked both Seattle playoff games during the divisional round and conference championship, exactly when teams were deciding on coaching hires, giving him a chance to evaluate Kubiak that no competing team could replicate.
Did the Raiders break any rules?
The implication is straightforward: as a broadcaster embedded in Seahawks meetings, Brady got an unofficial audition window into Kubiak’s game-planning and communication style. As a Raiders owner, he then had the final say on hiring him. No rival team chasing a head coach had that kind of overlapping access.
For the Raiders, this matters beyond optics. Kubiak’s hire shapes everything downstream, including coordinator hires, scheme fit for the current roster, and how the front office allocates cap space this offseason. If Brady’s dual role gave Las Vegas an edge in identifying Kubiak early, it could explain why the search moved faster than other openings around the league. It also puts scrutiny on how closely Brady will stay involved in coaching evaluations going forward, given his broadcast job keeps him inside rival meeting rooms.
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No formal rule was broken here, but don’t be surprised if the NFL, and perhaps rival executives, consider whether Brady’s dual roles need to be more clearly defined before the next hiring cycle.
Should the league establish clearer guidelines regarding media-credentialed owners, or is Brady simply engaging in what savvy ownership groups have historically sought to do: uncover any available advantage?
*Top Photo: Ramble Illustration/Getty Images
Once again Florio bashing the Raiders. His writing sucked so bad he had to give his books away free. Much like his reporting, it sucked! I can’t stand the guy,