Insider expands on Tom Brady possibly choosing between Fox, Raiders ownership

Shortly after it was learned last week that Tom Brady will have his access to coaches and players before games severely restricted as Fox's lead NFL in-game analyst if he is approved as a partial owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio openly suggested that other team owners want Brady to "pick a lane" because he "can’t be an owner and do the job properly as a broadcaster." 

NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated touched upon the situation for a piece published Monday. 

"Brady wouldn’t make a bid to buy a piece of the Raiders without an interest in helping to run it, and he knew how his presence at (a Raiders team practice this past January) would be perceived," Breer wrote. "Also, a good friend and celebrated teammate of his, Richard Seymour, was on the Raiders' search committee (regarding the club's head coach opening) that month. Brady’s longtime body coach, Alex Guerrero, is now working for the team, too, after making a difference last year for guys such as Maxx Crosby."

Brady and Fox agreed to a 10-year deal reportedly worth $375M that was announced back in 2022 long before it was confirmed last year that he wanted to become a "limited partner" of the Raiders. While it was reported in July of this year that concerns related to Brady working for Fox while serving as a minority owner of a franchise were expected to be "resolved" sooner rather than later, the much-anticipated transaction won't be completed before he makes his announcing debut this coming Sunday when the Dallas Cowboys play at the Cleveland Browns.

ESPN's Seth Wickersham revealed ahead of Labor Day that Brady "would not be permitted to be in another team's facility, would not be permitted to witness practice and would not be permitted to attend broadcast production meetings, either in person or virtually" as a Fox employee if he's approved as a partial owner of the Raiders at any point. Wickersham added that such access is "often a lifeblood of insight" for any announcing crew, let alone one featuring a rookie broadcaster. 

"To me, that really says that the owners are telling Brady to pick a lane," Breer continued. "If he wants to be an active minority team owner, that’s fine. If he wants to be a broadcaster, clearly, it’d be really good for the owners if he was great at it. But they’re not going to let him do both. So if and when Brady gets a formalized piece of the Raiders, juggling jobs won’t be made easy for him."

In short, fans upset about the fact that Brady is replacing award-winning broadcaster Greg Olsen as Fox's No. 1 analyst may only have to listen to the seven-time Super Bowl champion call games for a single season before he is forced to make a difficult decision. For what it's worth, at least one media insider believes Brady would pick the Raiders over Fox.