The cost of doing business with coordinators is going up in the NFL, and the Raiders are starting to lead the way when it comes to dumping money into assistance coaches.
It was reported this week that newly hired offensive coordinator Chip Kelly will be making upwards of $6 million per year in Las Vegas, but defensive coordinator Patrick Graham received a significant raise from the Raiders, as well, according to league insider Albert Breer.
“They [gave] Patrick Graham a raise. He was already making over $3 million. They [got] him closer to $4 million,” Breer said on Sports Illustrated’s Breer Report.
Breer then pivoted to the relationships Brady now has at nearly every level of the personnel and coaching ranks in Vegas.
“One thing that all these guys have in common is they all have the respect of [Tom Brady],” Breer said of the new coaches and personnel hires in the Raiders building. “Pete Carroll obviously competed in Super Bowls against Tom Brady. Chip Kelly actually helped the Patriots modernize their offense in 2011 and 2012. [He] worked with some of their coaches to incorporate more tempo in what they were doing. Brady, because of that, is well aware of what Chip Kelly is capable of. Patrick Graham… was in New England with Brady.”
As for new general manager John Spytek, Breer said Spytek used to run meetings for Brady during their time together with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“Spytek was in Tampa with Brady and built a strong relationship with him bases on running their scouting meetings,” Breer said. “He ran the scouting meetings for Brady, that Brady would do on Tuesdays. It’s something that [Bill] Belichick and Nick Caserio did for Brady in New England and through the three years of doing that, Spytek earned Brady’s respect.”
And last but not least, Brady also has a connection with new Senior Vice President of Football Operations and Strategy Mark Thewes. According to Breer, the connection Brady has with Thewes is through Spytek and former Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels.
“Thewes worked for Spytek in Denver [and] has a tie to Brady, as well, in that he’s one of the high school classmates of Josh McDaniels,” Breer added. “That’s how [Thewes] wound up in the NFL to begin with. He joined the Broncos in 2009 when McDaniels was the coach there. McDaniels and Brady are very close, so there’s another tie there.”
Circling back to Graham, it sounds like he turned down at least one opportunity to make even more money than what the Raiders are paying him.
In recent weeks, all signs were pointing toward Graham taking a job somewhere else in 2025. On his podcast last week, Sports Illustrated’s Hondo Carpenter said even Graham thought he would be with a new team after the 2024 season.
Graham reportedly rejected a contract extension from the Raiders prior to the 2024 season, and he was expected to be one of the most coveted defensive coaches in this year’s hiring cycle.
One of the teams interested in Graham as a head coach and defensive coordinator candidate was the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the Jags decided to go with former Buccaneers OC Liam Coen for their head coaching vacancy.
According to league insider Josina Anderson, the Jaguars then turned to Graham to fill their vacant defensive coordinator position, but Graham had already reached a verbal agreement with the Raiders.
“Thursday morning I heard from additional league sources telling me that Graham actually continued to be in demand through the negotiations of his deal to return to Las Vegas —as Jacksonville still attempted to insert last minute persuasions to make him a Jaguar,” Anderson reported on Friday.
On Monday, Carpenter added to Anderson’s report, saying Graham actually turned down more money to stay in Las Vegas.
“Patrick [Graham] had the opportunity to go other places for other money, and I [haven’t] addressed any more… but now some of the details have leaked and I’m going to go ahead and give them all to you,” Hondo said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast.
“Moments after the story broke that Patrick Graham was going to re-sign with the Raiders, the Jacksonville Jaguars reached out to him and made it abundantly clear asking him not to sign a deal [with the Raiders] and they were willing to pay him more than what the Raiders are going to pay him. But Patrick Graham nixed it and said, ‘No, I gave my word’ and didn’t turn it into a bidding war.”
x: @raidersbeat