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Tom Brady dedicated 23 NFL seasons to a singular mission: becoming the most accomplished QB in NFL history. He achieved that dream. Today, in retirement, Brady has explored numerous endeavors. He works as a commentator for Fox. He's involved in construction projects in Birmingham. He has promoted cryptocurrency. He's expanding the NFL to the Middle East. He maintains a popular YouTube channel. He replicated his dog. Brady's retirement ventures appear either diverse or unfocused, depending on your viewpoint.

Side projects are understandable. But overseeing a professional franchise is hardly a part-time job. Alongside his various responsibilities, Brady functions as the unofficial football leader for the Raiders, currently the least successful team in the NFL.

The Raiders fell to 2–9 on Sunday after enduring a decisive loss to the Browns. The Raiders didn't just lose; they were humiliated by a underperforming team with a quarterback making his professional debut. The Raiders' offensive unit 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 team this season. On defense, Las Vegas surrendered big plays to a Cleveland offensive unit that has been dysfunctional for most of the campaign. Any way you slice it, it was a thorough domination. At least Brady didn't have to witness it. The primary decision-maker of this current situation was sitting in Dallas on the network coverage for another game.

A Series of Questionable Choices

In fairness to Brady, he has only been involved for a year guiding the team's personnel choices, after becoming a partial stakeholder of the organization in 2024. But he was accountable for every major decision last summer, and all of them has backfired. Those decisions have left the Raiders as the least entertaining and directionless team in the league.

This wasn't expected to be a multi-year rebuild. The Raiders didn't hire veteran coach 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 supposed to restore the team to competitiveness and then transition them with a stable base in place. Instead, Carroll is facing the possibility of being fired after one season in Vegas, and the Raiders are looking at another restart.

Franchise Turmoil

This is not all Brady's fault, naturally. The majority owner is still the controlling stakeholder. Davis has cycled through head coaches and executives at a speed that would make even the New York Jets blush. The Raiders are on their seventh head coach and fifth GM in 15 years, a instability that has eliminated any clear strategic direction. Nevertheless, it's Brady's fingerprints that are evident throughout this iteration of the Raiders. "This is the Tom Brady show," league reporter a prominent journalist commented last offseason. "He's been deeply engaged," Carroll stated of Brady at his first press conference in January. "This is his chance to leave his mark on a franchise."

Brady was responsible for the crucial appointments and set the Raiders on this rudderless course. He hired John Spytek, his former teammate and colleague in Tampa, to act as GM. He greenlit a team strategy to Carroll's preference, including dealing a third-round pick for Geno Smith and drafting a RB No 6 overall despite having a bottom-tier offensive line. He recruited an offensive innovator away from the NCAA, making him the top-earning OC in the league. And he signed off on handing a unreliable blocking unit – the bedrock for that coach and ball carrier – to the coach's family member.

Disastrous Results

It's been a disaster. Last season's Raiders were a four-win team, but they were competitive and competitive. This year's Raiders are a confused mess. Carroll has implemented an old-fashioned defensive philosophy, Smith looks washed and the Raiders' offensive line has undermined any hopes for their rookie and the ground attack. If nothing else, Carroll was supposed to bring energy. But the Raiders were uninspired on Sunday, waiting for the snaps to the end of the game.

The contrast with Cleveland was stark. Things are always bleak with the Browns, but there are glimmers of optimism. Their star defender, now just five sacks away from the league all-time mark, leads a formidable defense. And there is optimism around the impressive rookie class that includes multiple promising talents – Quinshon Judkins at RB and Carson Schwesinger at linebacker. There is also Shedeur Sanders, who may not be the permanent solution at quarterback, 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 full week to get ready, he was effective, taking what the opposition gave him and displaying flashes of creativity. Sanders became the first Browns rookie quarterback to win his first start since 1995.

Lack of Vision

Sanders and the rest of the Browns' first-year players represent promise. That's a reflection the Raiders don't want to look into. Successful franchises understand their position in the ecosystem: you're either a contender, a competitive squad, or undergoing reconstruction. Vegas entered 2025 thinking they were a few adjustments away from respectability. Despite the overwhelming evidence otherwise, they haven't pivoted midstream. Like Cleveland, Vegas should be playing young players to find out what they have for the future. But only two first-year players have seen real playing time. There has reportedly already been disagreement between the coaching staff and the management regarding the lack of action for two young blockers, despite the o-line being a weak point. First-year pass catchers Jack Bech and Dont'e Thornton Jr have totaled nine catches in eleven contests, despite the lack of spark in the passing game. Carroll continues to utilize grizzled vets on defense over rookies in need of experience.

Unclear Direction

What is the future direction? Will Carroll be back or the GM or the quarterback? And who actually makes those choices, Brady or Davis? How can a team function when its primary influencer logs in occasionally, approves major organizational decisions, and then disappears on other projects?

It will prove a challenge for the Raiders to get better – and they are in a division stacked with consistently successful teams. At the same time, other reconstructing teams have paths. The New York Jets are stocked with upcoming selections. The Titans and Giants have promising young quarterbacks. The Raiders have nothing. No core. No franchise QB. No identity. No plan.

The only thing more problematic than being ineffective in the NFL is not knowing you're underperforming. The Raiders lack clarity on where they are, what they are developing, or who will make decisions in the summer.

Tom Brady once mastered football through intense dedication. The Raiders could benefit from more than an hour of it.