Why Mark Davis wanted Tom Brady as Raiders minority owner

For the first time, retired quarterback Tom Brady called a game for Fox as a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. 

For a piece updated on Monday, Raiders principal owner Mark Davis spoke with NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated about why Davis wanted Brady associated with the franchise for years. 

"I grew up with my dad (former Raiders owner and football legend Al Davis)," Mark Davis explained. "He knew football, so he had the football guy. I don’t have the football guy. I don’t have that person. In five or six years when [Brady is done at Fox] and he wants to get more involved with the team and we figure out a way for that to happen, he’s the guy that I think can really take this organization in the future. And in the interim, he can consult in the offseason and things like that. I don’t want it to interfere in his job." 

There's plenty to unpack here. 

It's now no secret that Mark Davis wanted to sign Brady as a free agent in March 2020 to finish his playing career with the Raiders before then-Las Vegas coach Jon Gruden allegedly "blew the deal up." Brady and Fox later agreed to a 10-year, $375M contract that was signed before the seven-time Super Bowl champion retired in February 2023.

Breer is among noteworthy members of the NFL community who believe Brady will ultimately choose trying to turn the Raiders into a winning franchise over calling games for Fox, in part because of the strict rules Brady must follow as an announcer who also has a direct relationship with a single franchise. While Breer noted that NFL bylaws prevent a minority owner who isn't related to the principal owner from "officially" being employed by a team, nothing prevents TB12 from advising Davis regarding matters such as the club's search for a new franchise quarterback. 

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio predicted recently that "one of these days, maybe later than sooner, Brady will end up as the controlling owner of the Raiders." It certainly sounds like that is at least a possibility, if not the plan, judging by Davis' comments.