Raiders’ Tom Brady Explored Comeback As Player/Owner

“I actually have inquired, and they don’t like that idea very much,” Brady revealed to CNBC Sport this week. “We explored a lot of different things, and I’m very happily retired. Let me just say that, too.”

An NFL spokesperson confirmed to CNBC it does not allow such an arrangement, saying that Brady would have had to divest his 5% ownership stake before coming out of retirement.

“In addition, there would be salary cap issues involving a player/owner,” the spokesperson added.

The NFL put this policy in place in 2023, a year after it levied punishment against the Dolphins and owner Stephen Ross for tampering with Brady. The league found that the Dolphins engaged in “impermissible communications” with Brady late in his 20-year Patriots run and during his three-season stint in Tampa Bay. Ross wanted to bring Brady aboard as a player/part-owner, but former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores blew the whistle in a 2022 racial discrimination lawsuit that is still ongoing.

Six months after Flores filed his suit against the NFL, the Dolphins, the Giants and the Broncos, the league suspended and fined Ross and Dolphins vice chairman/TB12 board member Bruce Beal. It also docked the Dolphins a first-round pick in 2023 and a third-rounder in ’24.

Brady, who came out of retirement once during his illustrious career, last played in the NFL in 2022. The soon-to-be 49-year-old participated in last weekend’s Fanatics Flag Football Classic, but he told CNBC that doing so “reconfirmed to me that I’m very happy in my retirement.” Although he is done as a player, Brady will continue to serve a key role with the Raiders and work as Fox’s lead color commentator.