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Tom Brady committed over two decades to a singular objective: establishing himself as the greatest quarterback in league history. He achieved that goal. Today, in retirement, Brady has ventured into numerous pursuits. He serves as a commentator for a major network. He's involved in construction projects in Birmingham. He has endorsed cryptocurrency. He's spreading the NFL to the Middle East. He operates a successful YouTube channel. He even cloned his family pet. Brady's post-career activities appear either diverse or unfocused, depending on your perspective.

Secondary ventures are one thing. But overseeing a NFL team is not a part-time job. Alongside his various responsibilities, Brady also serves as the unofficial football leader for the Raiders, currently the most hapless team in the NFL.

The Raiders fell to 2–9 on Sunday after suffering a 24-10 defeat to the Browns. The Raiders didn't just lose; they were humiliated by a underperforming team with a quarterback making his professional debut. The Raiders' offense averaged less than three yards per play before garbage-time action in the fourth quarter. Geno Smith was tackled 10 times and was pressured 46 times, a single-game high for any franchise this year. On defense, Las Vegas surrendered big plays to a Cleveland offensive unit that has been dysfunctional for most of the campaign. Any way you slice it, it was a comprehensive beatdown. Fortunately Brady didn't have to witness it. The architect of this latest Vegas mess was sitting in Dallas on the Fox broadcast for Eagles-Cowboys.

A Collection of Questionable Choices

To be fair to Brady, he has only spent one season guiding the team's football decisions, becoming a minority owner of the organization in 2024. But he was accountable for every significant move last summer, and all of them has backfired. Those decisions have left the Raiders as the least entertaining and directionless team in the league.

This wasn't expected to be a lengthy reconstruction. The Raiders didn't appoint veteran coach Pete Carroll, one of only three coaches to win both a Super Bowl and a NCAA title, to manage a protracted process back up the standings. He was supposed to return the team to competitiveness and then transition them with a solid foundation in place. Instead, Carroll is staring at the prospect of being one-and-done in Vegas, and the Raiders are looking at another reboot.

Organizational Dysfunction

This is not all Brady's fault, naturally. The majority owner is still the controlling stakeholder. Davis has churned through coaches and executives at a speed that would make even the New York Jets feel embarrassed. The Raiders are on their seventh coach and fifth general manager in 15 years, a turnover rate that has erased any clear strategic direction. Nevertheless, it's Brady's fingerprints that are evident throughout this iteration of the Raiders. "This is the Tom Brady show," league reporter a prominent journalist said last offseason. "He's been integrally involved," Carroll stated of Brady at his introductory news conference in January. "This is his chance to leave his mark on a team."

Brady made the key hires and placed the Raiders on this directionless path. He appointed John Spytek, his former teammate and co-worker in Tampa, to serve as GM. He greenlit a roster plan to the coach's specifications, including trading a draft selection for Geno Smith and selecting a running back No 6 overall despite having a poor-performing offensive line. He lured an offensive innovator away from the college ranks, making him the highest-paid offensive coordinator in the NFL. And he approved handing a unreliable blocking unit – the bedrock for that coach and ball carrier – to Carroll's son.

Catastrophic Results

It's been a disaster. The previous year's Raiders were a team with limited success, but they were competitive and resilient. This year's Raiders are a disorganized situation. Carroll has installed an old-fashioned defensive scheme, the quarterback looks past his prime and the Raiders' offensive line has submarined any hopes for their rookie and the ground attack. At the very least, Carroll was supposed to bring energy. But the Raiders were lifeless on Sunday, waiting for the snaps to the end of the game.

The difference with Cleveland was pronounced. Things are always bleak with the Browns, but there are glimmers of optimism. Myles Garrett, now just five sacks away from the NFL all-time mark, leads a formidable defense. And there is positive outlook around the impressive first-year players that includes two potential stars – Quinshon Judkins at running back and Carson Schwesinger at linebacker. There is also the rookie QB, who may not be the permanent solution at QB, but who is An Answer in the short-term.

Admittedly, it was facing the Raiders' defensive unit, but Sanders showed that the stage was not too big for him. With a complete preparation period to prepare, he was solid, taking what the defense gave him and displaying flashes of improvisation. Sanders became the first Browns rookie quarterback to win his first start since 1995.

Lack of Direction

Sanders and the rest of the Browns' rookie class represent future potential. That's a reflection the Raiders should avoid. Good organizations recognize their situation in the ecosystem: you're either a contender, a competitive squad, or undergoing reconstruction. Vegas began the season believing they were a couple of moves away from competitiveness. In spite of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, they haven't pivoted during the season. Similar to the Browns, Vegas should be playing rookies to discover what they have for the future. But only two first-year players have seen real playing time. There has apparently 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. Rookie receivers Jack Bech and Dont'e Thornton Jr have combined for nine receptions in eleven contests, despite the ineffectiveness in the passing game. Carroll continues to utilize experienced veterans on the defensive side over rookies in need of reps.

Unclear Future

Where is the path forward? Will Carroll be back or the GM or the quarterback? And who actually makes those decisions, Brady or Davis? How can a team operate when its most powerful decision-maker logs in occasionally, signs off franchise-altering moves, and then vanishes on other projects?

It will prove a struggle for the Raiders to improve – and they are in a division stacked with consistently successful teams. At the same time, other reconstructing teams have clear trajectories. The New York Jets are loaded with future draft picks. The Tennessee and New York have talented young QBs. The Raiders have nothing. No core. No quarterback. No identity. No plan.

The single factor more dangerous than being bad in the NFL is not recognizing you're underperforming. The Raiders don't know 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 an hour of it.