Just over a year ago it seemed like every rumor around the Raiders involved free agent quarterback Tom Brady. It was nothing new to see Derek Carr involved in offseason rumors, but Brady was the flavor of 2020 in terms of players being linked to taking Carr’s job.
As it turns out, via NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, most of the hype around the Raiders signing Brady seems to have come from Brady’s representatives.
“Around the time of the Super Bowl, Brady want[ed] the Raiders, but like they’re probably not going to make a big run at him. And then everybody was reporting ‘Raiders’ and I’m like ‘maybe I’m crazy,'” Rapoport told Complex Sports this month.
Asked if Brady was really making a push to join the Raiders, Rapoport was clear that it was Brady who identified the Raiders as a team he wanted to play for.
“Yes. Oh yeah,” Rapoport said. “I’m not saying [he liked them] more than the Bucs, but I’m like, yeah, that was a team that he definitely identified was like, okay, I like this. I could win here. And the 49ers, too. I mean, he would’ve loved [San Francisco], but they get Jimmy Garoppolo.”
As it turned out, Brady probably made the better decision by signing with the Buccaneers over the Raiders. The Tampa Bay defense overcame three interceptions from Brady in the NFC Championship and held the Chiefs to 9 points in the Super Bowl. Brady was never going to get that kind of defensive support in Las Vegas.
Looking ahead to this year, the Buccaneers are the clear favorite to win the Super Bowl again in 2021. The Raiders have better Super Bowl odds than only four teams, according to BetUS, who give only the Jaguars, Jets, Bengals, and Texans worse odds.
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No way. It was obvious that Brady was going to go to a team with parts to win. Tampa Bay was a no brainer. Even, I, with my limited football knowledge knew he was going there. The Raiders was just speculation to would be hopefuls. No way would he go to a team that has no defense. He would rather stay in New England.
With the defense wet had last year, Tom Brady just night be retired now! We would have dumped Carr and a couple others and some picks to get him for one year. Brady then would have gotten sacked way too much and would have gotten sick of losing. Then he would be gone and we’d have no QB and no draft picks until 2025! I’m not here to debate Brady being the GOAT but he’s like LeBron James in that he needs to help hand pick the roster and they’re so good the team listens. I think we’re moving forward now! Raider for life! Love you, Raider Nation!!