Living legend Tom Brady continues to be arguably the most unique individual involved in the NFL, as he is allowed to serve as both a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders and as Fox’s lead in-game analyst.
For a piece published on Friday, NFL insider Michael Silver of The Athletic touched upon how much power Brady has and/or doesn’t have regarding personnel decisions made by the Raiders.
People within Raiders “aren’t sure which calls are being made by whom”
“Brady, since becoming a minority owner in October 2024, has been in a prime position to influence organizational decisions,” Silver explained. “Depending on what you read and whom you talk to — and trust me, there are plenty of people in the Raiders’ organization who aren’t sure which calls are being made by whom — Brady is being treated by owner Mark Davis as the de facto boss when it comes to football matters.”
A report from January 2025 claimed that “Brady is running that team right now.” The Raiders subsequently hired John Spytek, Brady’s former teammate at Michigan, as their general manager, and Pete Carroll later said that Brady’s presence played a role in Carroll accepting the Raiders’ head-coaching job.
Additionally, Brady allegedly was involved in the Raiders’ decisions to pass on signing quarterback Sam Darnold in free agency and to not draft signal-caller Shedeur Sanders. The Raiders have since gone 2-14 under Carroll, while Darnold’s Seattle Seahawks ended 2025 at 13-3.
Back in Week 2 of this season, Brady was spotted wearing a headset in Las Vegas’ coaching booth during a game. In late November, a report mentioned that he had “shared with some people close to him his disappointment in the team’s overall performance.”
Who made the call to shut Maxx Crosby down?
The most recent controversy to hover over the Raiders involved the decision to shut star pass-rusher Maxx Crosby down, a call he clearly disagreed with. Some of his teammates later made it known they were furious that outsiders were saying the team was “tanking” to earn the first overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft.
“It wasn’t clear who made the call to shut down Crosby last Friday, a move that compelled the aggrieved edge-rusher to leave the team’s training facility in a huff,” Silver added. “Spytek delivered the news, explaining to Crosby that the Raiders did not want to risk him further exacerbating a left knee injury that will require offseason surgery. Yet in that moment, Crosby couldn’t be sure whether that edict — which, in conjunction with earlier shutdowns of [left tackle Kolton Miller’s] and [tight end Brock Bowers’] seasons, obviously aligned with a desire to secure the first pick — came from Spytek, Davis, Brady, Carroll, wellness coordinator Alex Guerrero (a longtime Brady confidante), or some or all of the above.”
In short, it sounds like Brady is everywhere and nowhere all at once as it pertains to the Raiders. For what it’s worth, Brady has roughly 375 million reasons to continue working for Fox for the foreseeable future.