The only thing more fun than predicting how the new look Raiders are going to do this season is predicting how much of it is because of Tom Brady. I'm not sure there's any Raiders win on the calendar that can actually be attributed to Brady, but that's not how NFL discourse – or Brady discourse, for that matter – works. When he's involved, he gets credit; don't yell at me, yell at the 20 years of Punditry Precedent that's been set.
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And ever since he's been involved with the Raiders' ownership side of things, fans have wondered just how involved he is on making the decisions that have quietly (although, not really) turned the Raiders into a sneaky tough out in the AFC West this fall. Fortunately, Raiders fans got the Dan Pompei experience this week – in a new profile on Raiders GM John Spytek, Pompei dives into some interesting new details about Brady's day-to-day involvement with the other decision-makers in the building.
Dan Pompei's profile on John Spytek ends up being an interesting look into Tom Brady's Raiders role
"They have talked on the phone quite a bit since. Spytek keeps him updated on everything the Raiders are doing. Spytek says Brady asks many questions but has not objected to anything. “Cool, babe, trust you,” is a typical response ... Brady, aware of how his physical presence changes the dynamic in a room, contributes remotely for the most part. But when the Raiders were vetting quarterbacks, he came to Las Vegas for a few days. He met with Spytek and coaches to discuss the veteran possibilities. He spent another day with Spytek discussing college quarterback prospects."
Most of this tracks with previous reporting that's been done about Brady since he came aboard, although it's interesting to hear that he is, occasionally, in the office taking meetings and working with scouts. It doesn't sound like he was overly involved with the Geno Smith trade, though, which is probably good because having a minority-share owner being the guy who pulls of trades probably doesn't sit all that well with the people that, you know, are normally paid to do that. Having the real GM be an actual friend of the kinda-fake-GM probably doesn't hurt that dynamic either.
If I didn't know any better, I'd say that the Raiders ... have their stuff together? And dare I even suggest they're on the same page? Who knew hope felt this good?