The Las Vegas Raiders have been one of the most poorly run organizations in the NFL over the last two decades, and particularly in the five years since they relocated to Nevada. Last year, however, they added Tom Brady as a minority owner to provide valuable insight and fix the football operation.
Raider Nation has a complicated relationship with Brady, as the Tuck Rule Game will live infamously in the franchise's history. However, at any given point in his playing career, the fan base would have loved the legendary quarterback under center in Oakland or Las Vegas.
There were certainly rumors about Brady wanting to be a Raider during the 2020 offseason, but they amounted to nothing when he ultimately went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, Mark Davis just said that there was more to the story, and it confirmed what Raider Nation already knew.
Mark Davis confirms Tom Brady could have been a Raider in 2020
On Wednesday evening, the Raiders' official YouTube page released a video in which owner Mark Davis sits down with former NBA star Baron Davis, a member of Raider Nation. They discussed several topics, including his relationship with Brady, and Davis leaked this bit of info:
"He was supposed to be here in 2020!" Davis said of Brady. "That's when our relationship started, was in 2020, when he was a free agent and we talked about him coming here to play quarterback. Obviously, it was a tough decision for him, and he was close to wanting to come here. But the head coach and general manager decided they wanted to go in a different direction, so we didn't sign him."
While Raider Nation knew somewhere deep down that this was a legitimate possibility in 2020, hearing it straight from Davis' mouth is a bit different. The tenure of Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock is looked upon as a failure, but this is just another blemish on their already-poor record.
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Gruden was responsible for the team trading away star edge rusher Khalil Mack and wide receiver Amari Cooper in 2018, which was a brutal start to his second stint with the organization. Then, when he joined forces with Mayock, the two made a series of blunders in free agency and the NFL Draft.
However, nobody thought that this duo was foolish enough to not want Tom Brady as their quarterback. This is even more ridiculous when considering that Derek Carr was under center at the time, who was the epitome of an average quarterback.
Brady went on to win a Super Bowl with the Bucs, and the Raiders crashed and burned for what seemed like the millionth time in recent memory. Thankfully, Brady is a member of the Silver and Black now, but fans can't help but wonder how things could have been different if Davis got his way.