The Las Vegas Raiders are a changed franchise. Owner Mark Davis turned over the general manager and head coach, bringing in experienced former Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant GM John Spytek and former Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl-winning coach Pete Carroll.
Davis also sold a small portion of the team to NFL quarterback legend and current FOX Sports broadcaster, Tom Brady. But with his NFL on FOX duties, there have been questions about his role as minority owner in Las Vegas.
Albert Breer on how Brady has worked with Spytek and Carroll since joining the team at the end of last year.
"Brady promised coaching candidates in January that the presence of his fellow new limited partners, whom he helped bring in, would materially change how the traditionally cash-poor Raiders would operate," Breer wrote. "With Brady’s business partner Tom Wagner, Silver Lake CEO (and Manchester City board member) Egon Durban and Discovery Land founder Michael Meldman in the fold, the Raiders have delivered on that, maybe most notably in paying $6M per year to pry offensive coordinator Chip Kelly from Ohio State."
Brady has publicly stated that he's not part of any evaluation process for the team, and wasn't involved in the team passing on Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders in this year's draft. But The Athletic reported that Brady did sign off on the trade that brought Geno Smith in from Seattle, and he was all-in on the team drafting North Dakota State QB Cam Miller in the sixth round.
Breer also noted that Brady would help the team set their new identity by focusing on players of high character with a high level work ethic, including their No. 1 pick, Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty.
"It’s well-established that Brady’s priority would be bringing in players of high football character who have the kind of competitive edge and work ethic that Brady did," Breer added. "That meshes with Carroll and Spytek’s beliefs, which helps color the decisions to hire them, and it was all over the Raiders’ draft class."