Getty Image
Unfortunately for the Las Vegas Raiders, they lost out on the Tom Brady sweepstakes this off-season. It should make them feel better, however, that *everyone* did, as the future Hall of Fame quarterback decided to retire instead of returning for a 24th season.
Prior to his retirement, there seemed to be a handful of options for Brady (other than retiring): stay with the Tampa Bay Bucs, pull off a shock return to the New England Patriots — which always felt like a pipe dream, anyway — or head to the Las Vegas Raiders, who were reportedly very interested in Brady’s services.
In fact, the Raiders’ interest in Brady was apparently so real that star tight end Darren Waller thought his coming to the franchise was a “lock” when they originally tried to land him back in 2020 before he ultimately decided to join the Tampa Bay Bucs.
“I’ve heard it from multiple sources that I respect and I’ve been close to. They’re like, ‘Yeah, Brady to the Raiders was a lock,'” Waller said in a recent interview with Forbes.
Waller’s comments echo reports from last year that indicated both Brady and Gronk were set to join the Raiders until then-head coach Jon Gruden “blew the deal up.” In fact, UFC boss Dana White — who apparently had a role in trying to make Brady-to-the-Raiders happen — said that the pair were “looking for houses” in the area.
Dana White just told the Gronks that he had a deal done for Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski to become Raiders and Gruden “Blew the deal up”
“Tom was looking for houses and everything” 👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/JI73ivoAoK
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) August 21, 2022
Ultimately, Brady and Gronk would team up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and would win the Super Bowl — Brady’s record-setting seventh — in their first season. The following two seasons in Tampa, however, saw diminishing returns, as the Bucs would fail to make it back to the Super Bowl.
Following his retirement, Brady will take 2023 off from football before beginning his role as Fox Sports’ lead NFL commentator in 2024.