The Josh McDaniels era in Las Vegas only lasted 21 months, and arguably the biggest disappointment of his time with the Raiders was his failed effort to bring Tom Brady with him.
It had been reported that Brady was planning to join the Raiders as a free agent in March, but something changed in the weeks after the season and he made the decision to retire instead.
Some have wondered if Brady was the reason the Raiders hired McDaniels in the first place, and The Athletic’s Vic Tafur seems to believe it was a factor. Tafur also doesn’t think McDaniels was ever the hot coaching candidate he was advertised to be two years ago.
Asked in a Q & A column this week if McDaniels was hired to lure Brady to the desert, this was Tafur’s response…
“It was part of it, but I blame the national media for telling Davis that McDaniels was in demand around the league and was just waiting for the right third chance.”
It’s no secret that Raiders owner Mark Davis has been wanting Brady since Jon Gruden reportedly blew up the idea in 2020, but if Brady was always in the plans for McDaniels, didn’t do himself any favors with Derek Carr’s final contract extension.
The no-trade clause in Carr’s deal allowed him to leave the team with no compensation and left the Raiders few options at quarterback once Brady elected to take his talents to Miami as a full-time parent.
We’ll never know if McDaniels would have been a head coach again if the Raiders didn’t hire him, but his 6-year, $60 million agreement with the Raiders has to be one of the worst decisions by Davis since he took over the team in 2011.
Looking ahead, Davis is now in a similar position to what he was in two years ago. He has a hot interim coach up against a long list of outside coaching candidates.
Will he stick with Antonio Pierce or roll the dice on another popular name from outside of the building?
Safe to say… the aforementioned Tom Brady will probably play a role in this decision, too.
twitter: @raidersbeat
ENOUGH OF AND ABOUT YOM BRADY!!!! HE’S OVER AND GONE. HIS INFLUENCE NO LONGER NEEEDED FOR RAIDERS1 KEEP AP.
It is probably in the best interest of the Raiders to move on from Brady completely. The McDaniels Era was horrendous. His inability to adapt to his players instead of the other way around was his biggest downfall. Although the complete inability to evaluate players was a close second. The roster is now a complete wreck. Over drafting some, not drafting more talented at other times, not to mention all the terrible Free Agents. Screwed again by Brady. Last point, don’t blame the “national media” , effin hack!
Typical dumb decision by Mark Davis to bring in an over the hill QB and expect him to be the fix all for his talent lacking roster. How about hiring a GM that can make the right personnel moves?