When the Las Vegas Raiders brought in Tom Brady as a minority owner in October of 2024, they didn't expect him to view this as just another business venture. The legendary quarterback, widely regarded as the best of all time, would be involved in the organization's big-picture decisions.
The mere presence of Brady has allowed the Raiders to go big fishing over the last two years, and this offseason, they seemingly caught a gem in Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, who is expected to be announced as the franchise's next head coach after Super Bowl LX.
Pairing Kubiak with a young quarterback is paramount. Luckily for Las Vegas, they hold the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza from Indiana is slated to be the top selection. A combo of Kubiak and Mendoza, with Brady assisting, could be lethal.
Tom Brady had high praise for both Klint Kubiak and Fernando Mendoza
Brady, expectedly, hasn't said much about either of these projected future big players in the Raiders' building. However, he voiced his opinion on both during a recent episode of the Let's Go! Podcast with Jim Gray. Brady started with his impressions of Kubiak.
"I thought they did a great job. Obviously, the run game is terrific... He's got Sam Darnold playing well. Sam's done a great job of making some explosive plays down the field. They've utilized different weapons on the field," Brady said. "Because they have a lot of different formations and motions, a lot of different scheme changes, they make one thing look like another thing, there's plays off of plays. I think Klint's done a great job this season, developing his own identity as a play caller. They run the West Coast offense; that's what Seattle does. They try to make it quarterback-friendly for Sam. Klint has played to the strengths of that team. And I think (in) last week's game, I thought he did a lot of great things against a very talented Rams defense."
Gray, the host, then asked Brady about Las Vegas needing to develop a young quarterback. Brady gave a thoughtful response and peeled back the curtain a bit on the Raiders' approach to accomplishing that.
"I would like to think that, with the Raiders, we can develop a quarterback, based on my experience of 23 years of playing. I feel like I know what it takes to be a good quarterback in the NFL. ... I've worked hard to develop a quarterback manual, (a) development manual, based on all my experiences, that I would really like our club to be a developer of that position. It's a huge asset in the NFL," Brady said. "I would like to mentor all the quarterbacks that come through our program ... Now, they have to be open to that. And I think that's part of our player personnel department that has to understand these are the values that we're looking for in a team. Because I've looked at a lot of players and I played with a lot of teammates that have lots of different skill sets. And when I look at Super Bowl champions, you know, they have a drive and determination that is unmatched. And you've got to develop that. There's a nature part and there's a nurture part to that. And I think the nature part, some of that has to be in you. And the nurturing part has to be, you have to be surrounded by other people in an environment that bring out the best in you. And that's ultimately what I'd love to create with the Las Vegas Raiders organization.”
It sounds like Brady is a bit more involved than most people give him credit for. The consensus is that Brady weighs in on big decisions like the quarterback position and head coach, but if he's working with the player personnel department and directly with the quarterback, that is very hands-on.
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When asked directly about Mendoza, Brady spoke about his respect for the Indiana quarterback before going on a tangent about what he wants to see from a young player under center. It sure sounds like he's describing Mendoza.
"I've only seen him one game in person, in the national championship game. I watched a little bit of the Ohio State game. You know, he's an impressive young man. What do I really value when I see him? He talks about his teammates. When he wins the Heisman Trophy, he's praising everybody else. That's an endearing quality for a great leader. Everybody will be able to throw the ball. Can you run? All that stuff that's really overhyped and overvalued," Brady said. "What does my expertise show me? Well, it shows me that the mental, emotional part is the most sustainable trait throughout. So, if you can find someone that has a mental and emotional baseline, and that ceiling is incredibly high, I think with a work ethic, you can improve a lot of physical skill sets. ... All the quarterbacks I've watched over the course of my 23-year career, I value certain things in quarterbacks that I feel makes someone great. And there's other things which are very important. How athletic you're a quarterback, how fast your foot is, how much you can move in the pocket by time. Yeah, that's important. Is it critically important? No, it's not. ... I think processing information is critically important.
Mendoza certainly has a great skill set at the quarterback position. But in terms of his pure traits, nothing is "generational" about him. He's very good at everything, but doesn't necessarily have these unteachable qualities. It seems like Brady views that as a positive.
His superpower is his intelligence and approach. Mendoza is a quick processor and an insatiable worker, which sounds like what Brady values most.
"How fast you can process information? Can you learn? Can you process information? Because what happens to a quarterback, you get given a whole playbook full of stuff," Brady said. "Now again, there is a baseline. I mean, I was a great thrower of the football. I'm not saying you can be a poor thrower of the football (and) process information to be a great quarterback. Everyone needs a certain baseline of skill to play in the NFL. You have to make every throw. You have to be able to make the defense defend every blade to grass. But really, what separates quarterbacks is processing speed. How much information you can take in throughout the week and can you apply that information on the field in fractions of seconds when the play happens?”
Again, Brady doesn't say a whole lot about the Raiders, at least directly. But Gray is asking him these questions for a reason. Brady gave Raider Nation a peek behind the curtain in this interview, where he effectively explained the thought process behind the pairing of Kubiak and Mendoza.