Tom Brady’s Comments Influenced Raiders Not Drafting Shedeur Sanders?

Since becoming a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, Tom Brady has made his presence felt, influencing some of the team’s biggest decisions.

With Brady’s input, the Raiders hired head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Spytek to lead the franchise into its next era. He also had a say in the team trading for Geno Smith, giving them a quality quarterback for the 2025 season.

Heading into the 2025 NFL Draft, there was considerable buzz about Las Vegas potentially selecting Shedeur Sanders. The Raiders wound up taking Ashton Jeanty with their first-round pick, while Sanders slipped all the way to the fifth round, where the Cleveland Browns finally picked him.

While there hasn’t been any solid reporting about Sanders’ links to Las Vegas, fans have begun to speculate that the Raiders didn’t want him because of comments Brady made about quarterbacks via MLFootball:

“Because football is the ultimate team sport. And even in this broadcasting role, that’s what I look for all the time. When a quarterback throws a touchdown pass, I actually watch to see who he goes to celebrate with. Because what did I do? I looked for my offensive lineman every time. I went down and celebrated in the end zone with my teammates every time. I wanted everyone to feel like they were part of the success. I told the lineman we’re all running to the end zone and celebrating as a team cause I think that’s way more intimidating than a quarterback doing his six-shooter guns and pointing up in the crowd and doing all that other -expletive- that’s very self-promotional but it’s not about winning. And I think winning in football is about a team attitude first.”

There were concerns during the pre-draft process about Sanders’ personality and answers to interview questions, but it almost sounds like Brady was more keen on how he acted after plays were over. Skill and talent typically trump everything in professional sports, but intangibles like leadership ability shouldn’t be glossed over.

It’s impossible to say whether or not Brady was alluding to Sanders with his comments, but fans will run wild at any sort of implication. Regardless, Sanders finds himself in Cleveland, while Las Vegas seems happy with Smith leading the way.

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