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Tom Brady dedicated 23 NFL seasons to a singular objective: becoming the most accomplished QB in NFL history. He accomplished that goal. Now, in retirement, Brady has ventured into various endeavors. He works as a commentator for Fox. He's engaged in development ventures in the UK. He has endorsed digital assets. He's expanding American football to Saudi Arabia. He maintains a successful YouTube channel. He even cloned his family pet. Brady's retirement ventures appear either diverse or aimless, based on your perspective.

Side projects are one thing. But managing a NFL team is not a casual commitment. Alongside his various responsibilities, Brady also serves as the de facto football leader for the Raiders, presently the most hapless team in the league.

The Raiders fell to 2–9 on this past weekend after suffering a 24-10 defeat to the Cleveland Browns. The Raiders didn't just lose; they were humiliated by a underperforming team with a quarterback making his first NFL start. The Raiders' offense averaged less than three yards per play before garbage-time plays in the fourth quarter. Geno Smith was sacked 10 times and faced pressure 46 times, a single-game high for any team this year. On the defensive side, Las Vegas surrendered significant gains to a Cleveland offensive unit that has been ineffective for the majority of the campaign. Any way you slice it, it was a comprehensive beatdown. At least Brady didn't have to witness it. The primary decision-maker of this latest Vegas mess was working in Dallas on the Fox broadcast for Eagles-Cowboys.

A Collection of Questionable Choices

In fairness to Brady, he has only spent one season guiding the team's football decisions, becoming a minority owner of the franchise in 2024. But he was responsible for every significant move last offseason, and each one has proven unsuccessful. Those decisions have resulted in the Raiders as the most unwatchable and directionless franchise in the league.

This wasn't expected to be a multi-year rebuild. The Raiders didn't appoint veteran coach Pete Carroll, one of only three coaches to win both a Super Bowl and a college national championship, to manage a long slog back up the league table. He was expected to return the team to relevance and then hand them off with a solid foundation in place. Conversely, Carroll is staring at the prospect of being one-and-done in Vegas, and the Raiders are looking at another reboot.

Organizational Dysfunction

This is not all Brady's fault, naturally. Mark Davis is still the majority owner. Davis has churned through coaches and executives at a rate that would make even the New York Jets feel embarrassed. The Raiders are on their seventh coach and fifth GM in 15 years, a instability that has erased any coherent long-term vision. Nevertheless, it's Brady's fingerprints that are all over this version of the Raiders. "This is the Brady's project," league reporter a prominent journalist said last summer. "He's been integrally involved," Carroll said of Brady at his introductory news conference in January. "This is his chance to leave his mark on a franchise."

Brady made the key hires and placed the Raiders on this directionless path. He appointed John Spytek, his college buddy and co-worker in Tampa, to serve as GM. He greenlit a team strategy to Carroll's preference, including dealing a third-round pick for Geno Smith and selecting a running back with the sixth pick despite having a bottom-tier offensive line. He lured an offensive innovator away from the NCAA, making him the highest-paid offensive coordinator in the NFL. And he signed off on entrusting a unreliable offensive line – the bedrock for that coordinator and running back – to the coach's family member.

Disastrous Results

It has become a complete failure. Last season's Raiders were a four-win team, but they were scrappy and resilient. The current Raiders are a disorganized situation. Carroll has installed an old-fashioned defensive scheme, Smith looks washed and the Raiders' offensive line has undermined any hopes for Ashton Jeanty and the ground attack. If nothing else, Carroll was supposed to bring energy. But the Raiders were uninspired on Sunday, counting down the plays to the conclusion of the game.

The difference with Cleveland was stark. Things are always bleak with the Browns, but there are embers of hope. Myles Garrett, now just five quarterback takedowns away from the NFL all-time mark, leads a formidable defense. And there is positive outlook around the impressive rookie class that includes multiple promising talents – a dynamic runner at running back and Carson Schwesinger at linebacker. There is also Shedeur Sanders, who may not be the permanent solution at QB, but who is An Answer in the short-term.

Granted, it was facing the Raiders' defense, but Sanders showed that the NFL level was not overwhelming for him. With a full week to prepare, he was solid, accepting what the defense gave him and displaying flashes of improvisation. Sanders became the first Cleveland rookie QB to win his first start since 1995.

Absence of Direction

Sanders and the rest of the Browns' first-year players symbolize future potential. That's a mirror the Raiders should avoid. Good organizations recognize their situation in the league hierarchy: you're either a contender, a frisky playoff team, or rebuilding. Vegas entered 2025 thinking they were a couple of moves away from respectability. Despite the overwhelming evidence otherwise, they failed to adjust during the season. Similar to the Browns, Vegas should be playing young players to find out what they have for the coming years. But only two first-year players have seen significant action. There has reportedly already been tension between the coaches and the management regarding the limited playing time for two rookie offensive linemen, despite the o-line being a weak point. Rookie receivers two young talents have combined for nine receptions in 11 games, despite the ineffectiveness in the aerial attack. Carroll continues to roll out experienced veterans on the defensive side over rookies in need of experience.

Uncertain Direction

What is the path forward? Will Carroll be back or Spytek or the quarterback? And who actually makes those decisions, Brady or Davis? How can a team function when its primary influencer participates sporadically, signs off franchise-altering moves, and then disappears on other projects?

It will prove a struggle for the Raiders to get better – and they are in a division filled with consistently successful teams. At the same time, other rebuilders have paths. The New York Jets are loaded with future draft picks. The Tennessee and New York have promising young quarterbacks. The Raiders have nothing. No core. No quarterback. No identity. No plan.

The only thing more problematic than being bad in the NFL is not recognizing you're underperforming. The Raiders don't know where they are, what they are developing, or who will make decisions in the summer.

Tom Brady once mastered football through ruthless focus. The Raiders could use more than limited attention of it.