The Las Vegas Raiders made headlines at the beginning of the offseason when owner Mark Davis was seen chatting with Tom Brady at Conor McGregor’s fight at the T-Mobile Center in January.
Brady is currently a free agent and reports indicate that the six-time Super Bowl champion is entertaining the thought of leaving the New England Patriots.
With the Raiders moving to Las Vegas and opening up a brand new stadium in 2020, it appears Davis wants to make a big splash to get his team back in Super Bowl contention.
Derek Carr is still under contract for three more seasons after signing a monster extension in 2017. He recently said that he is planning on being the team’s starting quarterback in 2020, so the splash was believed to come in the form of a wide receiver or defensive players. The Raiders have two first-round draft picks this year in addition to a boatload of cap space.
Carr is coming off a career-year statistically despite not having a true No. 1 receiver. There are no guarantees in this league though, and it looks like Davis may have bigger aspirations at the quarterback position. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Raiders will indeed pursue Brady if he decides to leave the Patriots:
The Raiders are poised to pursue quarterback Tom Brady if he doesn’t re-sign with the Patriots before free agency begins, league sources told ESPN.
If the Raiders were able to lure Brady to Las Vegas then they would likely attempt to trade Carr for a draft pick or two to free up some extra cap space, or cut him altogether. Brady is 42 years of age though, so they also would likely need to draft a young quarterback to eventually succeed him.
Brady is coming off arguably his worst season in a long time, although he did not exactly have the best set of weapons to work with. What the Raiders could provide him is one of the best offensive lines in the league in addition to one of the best young running backs in football in Josh Jacobs, a great tight end in Darren Waller and a pair of solid receivers in Tyrell Williams and Hunter Renfrow. All that is missing is a true No. 1 receiver, which they could pursue in the draft or free agency.
Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock have proven that they are not afraid to make big moves in their short time with the Raiders, and bringing arguably the greatest quarterback of all-time to Sin City could be the biggest of them all. It would be interesting to see how the fanbase would react to the move given Gruden and the Raiders’ history with Brady dating all the way back to the infamous Tuck Rule call in the early 2000s that helped start the Patriots’ dynasty.
