Raiders owner Mark Davis says Tom Brady was 'supposed to be here in 2020' as team pursued QB in free agency
Tom Brady could have been a part of the Las Vegas Raiders years before he became a minority owner in 2024, according owner Mark Davis.
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In an interview on the Raiders' website with former NBA star Baron Davis, Mark Davis told a story about how he wanted to sign Brady in 2020 when the New England Patriots great was a free agent. Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock, the head coach and general manager at the time, had a different opinion about who their quarterback should be for that season - Derek Carr.
He was supposed to be here in 2020," Davis said. That's when our relationship started, was in 2020 when he was a free agent and we talked about him coming here to play quarterback. Obviously, it was a tough decision for him, he was close to wanting to come here, but the head coach and general manager decided they wanted to go in a different direction. So, we didn't sign him, but as I got to know him through that process, I let his agent know that when he was done playing that I would like him to be a part of our organization and let him know."
Brady recounted his free agent experience speaking to the Raiders on a 2021 episode of "The Shop" where he said, "There was a story in free agency, one of the teams, they were interested and all of a sudden they weren't interested at the very end. I was sitting there thinking, 'You're sticking with that motherf******? Are you serious?'"
In Aug. 2022, UFC president Dana White revealed he had brokered a deal for both Brady and Rob Gronkowski to go to the Raiders, but that Gruden "blew the deal up."
Brady would sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and win a seventh Super Bowl in 2020. The following year he would throw for a career-best 5,316 yards and reach the 40-touchdown mark for only the third time.
After his third season with the Buccaneers, Brady's Hall of Fame career would come to an end and two years later he would join Davis with the Raiders' ownership group.
The Raiders would go with Carr for the next three seasons and record a 26-26 record with one playoff appearance - a Wild Card round loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. The Buccaneers would make the postseason all three years Brady was there and compile a 32-18 record with two division titles.