Will Tom Brady ever fully retire? It's a question that has divided scholars for a number of years now. Of course, Brady initially retired in 2021 before un-retiring to play another season in 2022. After that season, Brady again retired and appeared to be done for good. He expressed excitement about beginning his broadcast deal with Fox in 2024 and spending time away from football. One of the few football things he has publicly done is buy a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders.
Speaking of the Raiders, they are having an interesting offseason. After parting ways with long-time starting quarterback Derek Carr, the Raiders searched high and low for his replacement. Maybe they could trade up in the draft or trade down for one of the many young exciting backups already in the league? Maybe they could go big after one of the veteran free agents? Instead, the Raiders signed Jimmy Garoppolo, the 31-year-old veteran fresh off a season-ending foot injury. In fact, the Raiders hedged so hard on Garoppolo that they had him sign an injury waiver.
NFL Confirms Ownership Doesn't Bar Brady From Playing
With Garoppolo's waiver clause, and the news that the foot injury will need surgery, rumors about Brady suiting up in the Black and Silver began to silver. Behind Jimmy G, the Raiders current QB room is career backup Brian Hoyer, fourth-round rookie Aiden O'Connell, and 2022 undrafted free agent Chase Garbers. Not exactly inspiring but could be worse. However, that has led a number of people, including TMZ, to wonder if Brady could legally take the field for the Raiders as a last resort.
Turns out that the answer is yes. According to an NFL spokesperson who answer questions from TMZ, as long as Brady passes two votes from the NFL owners, he could both own the Raiders and start under center for them. The first vote is one that Brady needs to pass regardless of any desire to play. That's the vote from NFL ownership to approve his purchase of an ownership stake in the Raiders. However, the second vote, again taken by the NFL owners, would specifically be about whether they would approve of Brady taking the field. Furthermore, both votes hold a three-fourths majority threshold, meaning Brady would need the support of 28 NFL owners. While the first vote is expected to pass easily, there is definitely a chance that the owners would object to Brady retaking the field. Of course, all of this is purely speculation as Brady, for now, is very keen to stay retired.
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