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Tom Brady committed over two decades to a singular objective: establishing himself as the greatest quarterback in league history. He accomplished that dream. Today, in retirement, Brady has explored numerous pursuits. He serves as a commentator for a major network. He's involved in development ventures in the UK. He has promoted digital assets. He's spreading the NFL to Saudi Arabia. He maintains a successful YouTube channel. He replicated his family pet. Brady's retirement activities appear either eclectic or unfocused, based on your perspective.

Secondary ventures are understandable. But overseeing a professional franchise is hardly a part-time job. Alongside his various responsibilities, Brady also serves as the de facto football leader for the Raiders, currently the least successful team in the NFL.

The Raiders fell to 2–9 on Sunday after suffering a decisive loss to the Browns. The Raiders didn't just lose; they were humiliated by a underperforming team with a QB making his first NFL start. The Raiders' offense averaged less than three yards per play before meaningless action in the fourth quarter. Geno Smith was tackled 10 times and faced pressure 46 times, a single-game high for any franchise this season. On defense, Las Vegas surrendered big plays to a Cleveland offensive unit that has been dysfunctional for the majority of the season. Any way you slice it, it was a thorough domination. Fortunately Brady didn't have to watch. The architect of this latest Vegas mess was sitting in Dallas on the network coverage for Eagles-Cowboys.

A Series of Dubious Decisions

To be fair to Brady, he has only spent one season leading the team's personnel choices, after becoming a partial stakeholder of the organization in 2024. But he was accountable for every major decision last summer, and all of them has proven unsuccessful. Those moves have left the Raiders as the most unwatchable and directionless franchise in the league.

This wasn't supposed to be a multi-year rebuild. The Raiders didn't hire veteran coach Pete Carroll, one of only three coaches to win both a Super Bowl and a NCAA title, 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 stable base in place. Instead, Carroll is staring at the possibility of being one-and-done in Vegas, and the Raiders are looking at another restart.

Franchise Turmoil

This is not entirely Brady's responsibility, naturally. The majority owner is still the controlling stakeholder. Davis has churned through coaches and front-office heads at a rate that would make even the Jets feel embarrassed. The Raiders are on their seventh coach and fifth general manager in 15 years, a instability that has erased any clear strategic direction. Nevertheless, it's Brady's influence that are all over this iteration of the Raiders. "This is the Tom Brady show," NFL Insider a prominent journalist said last summer. "He's been integrally involved," Carroll stated of Brady at his introductory news conference in January. "This is his opportunity to leave his mark on a franchise."

Brady was responsible for the crucial appointments and placed the Raiders on this rudderless course. He hired John Spytek, his college buddy and co-worker in Tampa, to act as GM. He greenlit a team strategy to Carroll's preference, including trading a draft selection for Geno Smith and selecting a running back No 6 overall despite having a bottom-tier offensive line. He lured an offensive innovator away from the NCAA, making him the highest-paid OC in the NFL. And he signed off on handing a flaky blocking unit – the foundation for that coordinator and running back – to Carroll's son.

Disastrous Outcomes

It has become a disaster. Last season's Raiders were a team with limited success, but they were scrappy and competitive. The current Raiders are a disorganized situation. Carroll has installed an outdated defensive scheme, Smith looks past his prime and the Raiders' blocking unit has submarined any hopes for Ashton Jeanty and the run game. At the very least, Carroll was expected to bring enthusiasm. But the Raiders were lifeless on Sunday, waiting for the plays to the conclusion of the game.

The contrast with Cleveland was stark. Things are always bleak with the Browns, but there are embers of hope. Their star defender, now just five sacks away from the NFL single-season record, leads a formidable defense. And there is positive outlook around the stellar-looking rookie class that includes two potential stars – Quinshon Judkins at running back and Carson Schwesinger at LB. There is also Shedeur Sanders, who may not be the permanent solution at QB, but who is a viable option in the immediate future.

Admittedly, it was against the Raiders' defensive unit, but Sanders demonstrated that the stage was not overwhelming for him. With a full week to get ready, he was solid, accepting what the opposition gave him and displaying glimpses of improvisation. Sanders became the first Cleveland rookie QB to win his debut game since 1995.

Lack of Vision

Sanders and the rest of the Browns' first-year players represent future potential. That's a reflection the Raiders don't want to look into. Good organizations recognize their position in the ecosystem: you're either a championship candidate, a frisky playoff team, or undergoing reconstruction. Vegas entered 2025 thinking they were a couple of moves away from respectability. In spite of the clear indications otherwise, they failed to adjust midstream. Like Cleveland, Vegas should be throwing out young players to find out what they have for the coming years. But only two rookies have seen significant action. There has reportedly already been tension between the coaches and the front office regarding the lack of action for two rookie offensive linemen, despite the o-line being a sieve. First-year pass catchers Jack Bech and Dont'e Thornton Jr have totaled nine catches in 11 games, despite the ineffectiveness in the passing game. Carroll continues to roll out grizzled vets on defense over young players in need of experience.

Uncertain Direction

Where is the future direction? Will the coach return or the GM or the quarterback? And who actually makes those choices, Brady or Davis? How can a franchise function when its most powerful decision-maker participates sporadically, signs off major organizational decisions, and then vanishes on side quests?

It's going to be a challenge for the Raiders to improve – and they are in a conference filled with consistently successful teams. At the same time, other rebuilders have paths. The Jets are loaded with upcoming selections. The Tennessee and New York have promising young quarterbacks. The Raiders have nothing. No core. No franchise QB. No distinctive style. No plan.

The only thing more problematic than being ineffective in the NFL is not recognizing you're bad. The Raiders lack clarity on where they are, what they are developing, or who will make decisions in the offseason.

Tom Brady once mastered football through intense dedication. The Raiders could use more than an hour of it.