Where there is smoke, there is fire: Tom Brady to the Raiders heating up

The Las Vegas Raiders are in the conversation of acquiring six-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady, and the rumors have heated up during the Combine.

Much of the off season talk surrounding the Las Vegas Raiders has centered around, surprise, surprise, Derek Carr. Raider nation is divided on the topic of whether Carr is or is not the guy to be leading the team into Las Vegas.

To make matters worse, the man known as the GOAT, Tom Brady, might possibly hit the free agent market in just three short weeks.  And we all know that Jon Gruden loves himself a grizzly veteran at quarterback.

The rumors of Gruden’s discontent with Derek Carr date back to when he first returned to the organization two seasons ago.  Each draft season since the question is asked: Will Derek Carr be under center the following year?

It’s nothing new for Carr, but this season it feels different.  Despite publicly lending supportive praise to his quarterback (on more than one occasion), there has been far too much speculation in the media to just dismiss it as fake news.

Not to mention, Gruden has a track record of making positive comments about certain players only to see them shipped off shortly thereafter (i.e. Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper).

The first hint of Brady to the Raiders talk goes back to a Ultimate Fighting event of all things, that took place in Las Vegas back in January.  Tom Brady, a close friend of UFC president, Dana White was in attendance.

It just so happened that Raiders owner, Mark Davis was also in the building.  The media captured a picture of the two exchanging pleasantries and from there things were ignited.

To add fuel to the fire, during his post fight press conference, Dana White made reference to Brady playing for the Raiders in Las Vegas, should he not re-sign with the Patriots.

Then came the tweet from Adam Schefter on Super Bowl Sunday.

Two weeks later there was monetary figure associated with a report from Larry Fitzgerald Sr, father of future Hall of Fame wide receiver, Larry Fitzgerald.  Fitzgerald Sr a longtime member of the media in Minnesota, reported that the Raiders were prepared to offer Brady a two year, $60 million deal.

With the rumor mill already a blaze, things turned into a complete inferno this week when ESPN’s Jeff Darlington was a guest on the morning show “Get Up” and made a bold statement in regards to Brady’s future.

In case you have been living under a rock, check out the clip below.

Darlington has gone as far to say he believes the Titans and Raiders are the front runners for Brady’s services. He ranks a return to the Patriots as the least likely option in this scenario.

Brady’s contract is set to expire on March 17th, as of now the Patriots have reportedly not approached the six time Super Bowl champion about a contract extension.

Tom Brady’s decision to leave the Patriots could trigger a domino effect of moves with quarterbacks around the league. You can choose to ignore all the smoke that’s surrounding this story but if you wait to long it will engulf you.