How Fox wants Tom Brady to improve as NFL announcer

While Tom Brady has shown improvements across his first season serving as Fox's lead in-game NFL analyst, he very much so remains a work in progress heading into December. 

In his latest "The Varsity" newsletter, Puck media insider John Ourand shared how Fox is essentially coaching Brady regarding what network executives and viewers want to hear from the seven-time Super Bowl champion during contests. 

"When most players leave the NFL for the broadcast booth," Ourand wrote, "they immediately lean on X’s and O’s as their crutch. ...Brady has instead focused on things you don’t find in a playbook: pointing out the leadership of stars, focusing on the development of young players and looking for accountability among veterans. Fox producers have been pushing Brady to incorporate more of what he’s seeing on the field...into his commentary. And these sorts of observations -- why a play worked or fell apart -- are starting to pop up more frequently on the broadcast." 

Specifically, Ourand noted how Brady explained that an interception tossed by Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love against the Chicago Bears back on Nov. 17 "stemmed from the young QB’s poor technique of throwing off his back foot." While Fox wants to hear more of the same from Brady moving forward, Ourand said that network insiders "are confident" TB12 will continue to get better with each game he calls. 

Interestingly, The Athletic's Richard Deitsch shared in a piece published on Tuesday that he is still convinced guidelines Brady must follow as an NFL announcer (he is also a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders) will result in the 47-year-old leaving the booth well before his 10-year, $375M Fox deal expires. 

"Predetermined restrictions on what you can say leave no workaround," Deitsch said about Brady's unique situation. "It’s subconsciously self-censoring things because of the ownership situation. ...I’ll keep saying it: This isn’t sustainable long-term."

Brady reportedly will help in "recruiting top talent to the (Raiders) organization on every level," even as he's employed by Fox. He could also assist in the club's search for a long-term franchise quarterback and Las Vegas' search for a new head coach if owner Mark Davis decides to go in a different direction come January. 

Per NESN's Tim Crowley, Brady is scheduled to work Fox's broadcast of the Thanksgiving Day game between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants. It will be interesting to hear if Brady "incorporates more of what he’s seeing on the field" into his call of what could become a largely forgettable contest involving two teams with losing records.