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Tom Brady dedicated 23 NFL seasons to a unwavering mission: becoming the most accomplished QB in league history. He accomplished that goal. Now, in retirement, Brady has ventured into numerous endeavors. He serves as a commentator for Fox. He's engaged in construction projects in Birmingham. He has endorsed cryptocurrency. He's expanding American football to the Middle East. He operates a popular YouTube channel. He even cloned his family pet. Brady's post-career activities appear either diverse or unfocused, based on your viewpoint.

Side projects are one thing. But overseeing a NFL team is hardly a part-time job. Alongside his other roles, Brady also serves as the unofficial football leader for the Las Vegas franchise, presently the most hapless team in the NFL.

The Raiders fell to 2–9 on this past weekend after suffering a decisive loss to the Cleveland Browns. The Raiders didn't just get defeated; they were embarrassed by a struggling team with a quarterback making his first NFL start. The Raiders' offense averaged less than three yards per play before garbage-time action in the final period. Their quarterback was tackled 10 times and faced pressure 46 times, a season record for any franchise this year. On the defensive side, Las Vegas surrendered big plays to a Cleveland offensive unit that has been ineffective for most of the campaign. However you analyze it, it was a thorough domination. Fortunately Brady didn't have to witness it. The architect of this current situation was sitting in Dallas on the Fox broadcast for Eagles-Cowboys.

A Series of Dubious Decisions

In fairness to Brady, he has only spent one season guiding the team's personnel choices, after becoming a minority owner of the franchise in 2024. But he was accountable for every major decision last offseason, and all of them has proven unsuccessful. Those moves have left the Raiders as the least entertaining and aimless franchise in the league.

This wasn't expected to be a lengthy reconstruction. The Raiders didn't hire 74-year-old Pete Carroll, one of only three coaches to win both a championship and a college national championship, to manage a protracted process back up the league table. He was expected to return the team to relevance and then transition them with a stable base in place. Conversely, Carroll is facing the prospect of being one-and-done in Vegas, and the Raiders are looking at another restart.

Organizational Turmoil

This isn't entirely Brady's responsibility, of course. Mark Davis is still the controlling stakeholder. Davis has cycled through coaches and front-office heads at a rate that would make even the Jets blush. The Raiders are on their seventh head coach and fifth general manager in 15 years, a instability that has erased any clear strategic direction. Still, it's Brady's influence that are all over this iteration of the Raiders. "This is the Brady's project," NFL Insider a prominent journalist commented last offseason. "He's been integrally involved," Carroll stated of Brady at his first press conference in January. "This is his opportunity to put his stamp on a franchise."

Brady was responsible for the key hires and set the Raiders on this directionless path. He appointed John Spytek, his college buddy and co-worker in Tampa, to act as general manager. He approved a team strategy to Carroll's preference, including trading a draft selection for Smith and selecting a running back No 6 overall despite having a poor-performing offensive line. He recruited an offensive innovator away from the college ranks, making him the highest-paid OC in the NFL. And he signed off on entrusting a flaky blocking unit – the foundation for that coach and running back – to the coach's family member.

Catastrophic Results

It has become a disaster. The previous year's Raiders were a team with limited success, but they were competitive and competitive. This year's Raiders are a confused mess. Carroll has installed an old-fashioned defensive scheme, the quarterback looks past his prime and the Raiders' blocking unit has undermined any hopes for their rookie and the run game. If nothing else, Carroll was expected to bring enthusiasm. But the Raiders were lifeless on Sunday, counting down the snaps to the end of the game.

The contrast with Cleveland was stark. Things are always bleak with the Browns, but there are embers of hope. Myles Garrett, now just five sacks away from the league all-time mark, leads a formidable defense. And there is positive outlook around the stellar-looking first-year players that includes two potential stars – Quinshon Judkins at RB and a skilled defender at linebacker. There is also Shedeur Sanders, who may not be the permanent solution at quarterback, but who is An Answer in the short-term.

Granted, it was facing the Raiders' defense, but Sanders showed that the NFL level was not too big for him. With a full week to prepare, he was effective, accepting what the defense gave him and displaying glimpses of creativity. Sanders became the first Cleveland rookie QB to win his debut game since 1995.

Lack of Direction

The rookie quarterback and his classmates of the Browns' rookie class represent promise. That's a mirror the Raiders don't want to look into. Good organizations recognize their situation in the ecosystem: you're either a championship candidate, a frisky playoff team, or rebuilding. Vegas began the season believing they were a couple of moves away from respectability. In spite of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, they failed to adjust during the season. Similar to the Browns, Vegas should be playing young players to find out what they have for the coming years. But only two first-year players have seen significant action. There has reportedly already been tension between the coaching staff and the management regarding the limited playing time for two young blockers, despite the offensive line being a sieve. First-year pass catchers Jack Bech and Dont'e Thornton Jr have totaled nine catches in eleven contests, despite the ineffectiveness in the aerial attack. Carroll continues to roll out experienced veterans on the defensive side over rookies in need of reps.

Unclear Future

Where is the path forward? Will the coach return or Spytek or the quarterback? And who truly decides those choices, Brady or Davis? How can a franchise operate when its primary influencer participates sporadically, signs off major organizational decisions, and then vanishes on other projects?

It's going to be a struggle for the Raiders to improve – and they are in a conference stacked with consistently successful teams. At the same time, other reconstructing teams have clear trajectories. The Jets are stocked with future draft picks. The Titans and Giants have promising young quarterbacks. The Raiders have little to build upon. No core. No quarterback. No distinctive style. No plan.

The single factor 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 building, or who will make decisions in the offseason.

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