Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis says seven-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Tom Brady will have “a huge voice” in the immediate and long-term future of the organization.
But because of Brady’s broadcasting obligations, when his voice will be heard with the Raiders is another matter entirely. And sources believe that timing related to Brady’s second career could potentially complicate a move on head coach Antonio Pierce and subsequent search for his replacement.
Speaking last week at the league meetings, Davis did not entertain any inquiries about the future of Pierce, who is 2-12 in his first year as the permanent head coach. But there have been questions leaguewide about whether Pierce would be one-and-done as a coach there after a season filled with disappointment.
Brady, who officially became a part-owner of the Raiders this fall, is in his first year as the top color commentator for Fox. Davis hasn’t defined Brady’s full role with the team yet out of respect for Brady’s job. And with Fox broadcasting this year’s Super Bowl, Davis said Brady wouldn’t be fully involved with the team until after mid-February’s game.
“When Tom was hired, I promised to Fox that we would not get in the way of Tom’s job and that he’s going to be one of the best announcers in the game,” Davis said last week at the meetings in Irving, Texas. “Anything he does with the Raiders will be in the future, as far as that goes. Obviously, I talk to him all of the time and his input is greatly valued and will always be valued. We’ll see as time goes on how his role evolves in here. But he’s very excited about it. But again we’re respecting his obligations to Fox.”
Asked whether that means Brady would not have any role with the team until after the Super Bowl, Davis said: “I don’t know if you can do it that way, but obviously with them having the Super Bowl it gives him an extra two weeks that he’s going to be tied to Fox full-on. So I suppose that’s the answer to the question.”
The Raiders season will conclude Jan. 5 against the Chargers, and Super Bowl LIX will be played Feb. 9. If Davis chooses to move on from Pierce, his promise to the broadcast partner could conflict with the timeline of a head-coach search.
Under Pierce, the Raiders have failed to build off the exciting finish to last season when Pierce took over as interim coach, winning five of nine games and earning the hearts of the players and the job itself without much of an external search.
Davis then grouped Pierce with former Chargers GM Tom Telesco, choosing a veteran personnel chief to match with the first-time head coach. The team signed Gardner Minshew in the offseason but couldn’t muster a trade-up for a difference-making quarterback in the draft.
After a preseason where neither Minshew nor Aidan O’Connell separated himself, Pierce went with the veteran Minshew to start the season. Minshew would go on to be benched multiple times in the season.
Nine games into the year, Pierce fired offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, offensive line coach James Cregg and quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello, all of whom were hired by Pierce in the offseason. Interim offensive coordinator Scott Turner has been rumored as a candidate to join Bill Belichick at UNC which, if true, would lead the Raiders to their fifth offensive coordinator since the start of the 2023 season.
And heading into Sunday’s match with the Jaguars, the Raiders have lost 10 straight games, the longest streak in the NFL. Along the way there was a divorce with All-Pro receiver Davante Adams, a players-and-staff meeting about being more efficient and questionable game-management decisions highlighted by the Black Friday loss to the Chiefs. Eight of their 12 losses have been by more than one possession.
But Davis, as well as several sources around the Raiders, have pointed out that despite the lows of the season, the team has not quit on Pierce. The players are still playing hard under their head coach.
“I will say the one thing that this team has done is fought hard in every game, they’re fighting hard,” Davis said. “That’s something that you don’t find all the time when things aren’t as good as you want them to be. That’s a positive about the way that this team has responded.”
Davis said Pierce and Telesco would be evaluated separately because “they didn’t come in as a team,” which many have taken to mean Telesco’s job is safe as he continues to build the roster after years of several failed top-100 draft picks.
Moving on from Pierce and hiring a new head coach would mean Davis would be paying a total of three head coaches and two general managers. There is still time and money remaining on the contracts of Pierce, former head coach Josh McDaniels and former GM Dave Ziegler.
But a source was quick to point out that Davis has recently gotten a cash infusion. Davis executed a series of transactions this fall that sold nearly 25% of the Raiders to various co-owners, including Brady, and he received hundreds of millions of dollars as a result.
After nearly two years of trying, Brady finally got his bid approved to get a slice of the Raiders in October. He agreed to a number of rules regarding his TV job, including restrictions on Saturday production meetings and access to team facilities. And though there is a bylaw prohibiting owners from being team employees, he also promised the NFL he would not un-retire.
An NFL source confirmed there are no league rules against Brady assisting in any potential Raiders search while he carries out his broadcasting duties.
Brady will be instrumental in choosing the quarterback of the future for the Raiders, who are in contention for the No. 1 overall pick in April’s draft.
“I want Tom to have a huge voice. No question about it,” Davis said. “It’s part of building the infrastructure of the organization, which is something that we didn’t have… a football person on that side of it that’s not a coach or a general manager, but somebody who can oversee the whole picture. And I believe Tom, in time, will be the person who can do that.
“He’s got a great ability to communicate on a level that people can understand and not trying to talk over them. I’m excited and really grateful that he’s part of the Raiders organization.”
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