Did Raiders' Tom Brady Want Rams' Stafford?

At the same time, following disastrous stints by Gardner Minshew, Aiden O'Connell, and Desmond Ridder as starting quarterbacks last season, the Raiders went about a new quarterback search, with minority owner Tom Brady providing input.

The Raiders are in the midst of an organizational rebuild that is being felt on the field, in the locker room, with the coaching staff, front office, and in the Raiders' board room.

"To me, so much of what the Raiders did from a big-picture standpoint this offseason was about giving the organization some semblance of credibility back," stated Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer in a recent report. "That’s why Tom Brady was so important as an addition, in bringing in big-money guys like Egon Durban, Michael Meldman and his business partner Tom Wagner. That’s why you hired Pete Carroll."

Part of bringing that credibility back was establishing a long term solution at the quarterback position and for the Raiders, that means having a 17 game starter at this point.

So when the Raiders went looking for a quarterback, many names came up, with Stafford being a priority. However, while Brady did court Stafford, even "accidentally" running into Stafford at a random ski resort in Montana, a recent report has come out stating the current quarterback of the rival Seattle Seahawks was not considered a realistic solution for the franchise's problems. The Athletic's Michael Silver reported Thursday that Brady did not want the Raiders to invest in Darnold.

"While some believed the Las Vegas Raiders would try to sign Darnold, minority owner Tom Brady—a seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback whose opinion held great sway—was not in favor of that approach, according to a source familiar with the franchise’s internal discussions," Silver wrote.

Darnold went on to sign a three-year deal with the Rams' rivals in the Pacific Northwest, the Seattle Seahawks. However, in what can only be described as having the utmost confidence in their quarterback, the Seahawks used certain contract language that gives them an out of Darnold's deal after just one season, enduring only a minimal cap hit should they exercise that option.

Brady knew Stafford would get the job done, so the fact that the Rams were able to retain him proves how lucky the Rams were that Stafford enjoys living in Los Angeles and playing for this franchise.

The Raiders eventually traded for Geno Smith, allowing Darnold to replace him after the Minnesota Vikings decided to go forward with J.J. McCarthy.