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Tom Brady dedicated over two decades to a unwavering mission: establishing himself as the most accomplished QB in league history. He achieved that goal. Today, in retirement, Brady has ventured into numerous endeavors. He serves as a commentator for a major network. He's involved in development ventures in Birmingham. He has promoted cryptocurrency. He's expanding the NFL to the Middle East. He maintains a successful YouTube channel. He replicated his family pet. Brady's post-career ventures appear either diverse or aimless, depending on your viewpoint.

Secondary ventures are understandable. But overseeing a NFL team is not a casual commitment. Alongside his various responsibilities, Brady functions as the unofficial football leader for the Raiders, presently the most hapless team in the league.

The Raiders fell to 2–9 on Sunday after suffering a decisive loss to the Cleveland Browns. The Raiders didn't just get defeated; they were embarrassed by a struggling team with a quarterback making his professional debut. The Raiders' offensive unit averaged less than three yards per play before meaningless action in the fourth quarter. Geno Smith was tackled 10 times and faced pressure 46 times, a single-game high for any team this year. On the defensive side, Las Vegas surrendered big plays to a Cleveland offense that has been ineffective for most of the campaign. Any way you slice it, it was a thorough domination. Fortunately Brady didn't have to watch. The primary decision-maker of this current situation was sitting in Dallas on the network coverage for Eagles-Cowboys.

A Series of Questionable Choices

In fairness to Brady, he has only spent one season guiding the team's football decisions, after becoming a partial stakeholder of the franchise in 2024. But he was accountable for every significant move last offseason, and all of them has backfired. Those decisions have left the Raiders as the most unwatchable and directionless team in the league.

This wasn't expected to be a multi-year rebuild. The Raiders didn't appoint 74-year-old Pete Carroll, one of only three coaches to win both a championship and a college national championship, to manage a protracted process back up the standings. He was supposed to return the team to relevance and then hand them off with a stable base in place. Conversely, Carroll is facing the possibility of being fired after one season in Vegas, and the Raiders are looking at another reboot.

Franchise Turmoil

This isn't all Brady's fault, of course. The majority owner is still the controlling stakeholder. Davis has cycled through coaches and executives at a rate that would make even the New York Jets feel embarrassed. The Raiders are on their seventh head coach and fifth GM in 15 years, a turnover rate that has erased any clear strategic direction. Nevertheless, it's Brady's influence that are all over this iteration of the Raiders. "This is the Tom Brady show," NFL Insider Tom Pelissero said last offseason. "He's been deeply engaged," Carroll said of Brady at his first press conference in January. "This is his opportunity to leave his mark on a team."

Brady made the key hires and set the Raiders on this directionless path. He hired John Spytek, his college buddy and co-worker in Tampa, to act as GM. He greenlit a team strategy to the coach's specifications, including dealing a third-round pick for Geno Smith and drafting a RB No 6 overall despite having a poor-performing O-line. He lured Chip Kelly away from the NCAA, making him the top-earning offensive coordinator in the league. And he approved handing a flaky blocking unit – the foundation for that coach and running back – to Carroll's son.

Catastrophic Outcomes

It has become a complete failure. Last season's Raiders were a team with limited success, but they were competitive and resilient. The current Raiders are a disorganized situation. Carroll has implemented an old-fashioned defensive scheme, the quarterback looks washed and the Raiders' offensive line has undermined any aspirations for their rookie and the run game. At the very least, Carroll was expected to bring energy. But the Raiders were lifeless on Sunday, waiting for the plays to the end of the game.

The contrast with Cleveland was pronounced. The situation often seems dire with the Browns, but there are glimmers of optimism. Their star defender, now just five sacks away from the league single-season record, leads a dominant defensive unit. And there is optimism around the impressive first-year players that includes multiple promising talents – a dynamic runner at RB and Carson Schwesinger at LB. There is also the rookie QB, who may not be The Answer at quarterback, but who is a viable option in the short-term.

Admittedly, it was facing the Raiders' defensive unit, but Sanders showed that the stage was not overwhelming for him. With a full week to get ready, he was solid, accepting what the opposition gave him and showing glimpses of creativity. Sanders became the first Cleveland rookie QB to win his first start since 1995.

Lack of Vision

Sanders and the rest of the Browns' first-year players represent future potential. That's a mirror the Raiders should avoid. Good organizations understand their position in the league hierarchy: you're either a contender, a competitive squad, or undergoing reconstruction. Vegas began the season thinking they were a couple of moves away from competitiveness. In spite of the clear indications to the contrary, they haven't pivoted midstream. Like Cleveland, Vegas should be playing rookies to find out what they have for the coming years. But only two first-year players have seen significant action. There has reportedly already been tension between the coaching staff and the front office regarding the limited playing time for two young blockers, despite the offensive line being a sieve. First-year pass catchers two young talents have combined for nine catches in 11 games, despite the ineffectiveness in the aerial attack. Carroll continues to utilize grizzled vets on defense over rookies in need of reps.

Unclear Direction

Where is the path forward? Will the coach return or Spytek or the quarterback? And who actually makes those choices, Brady or Davis? How can a franchise operate when its primary influencer logs in occasionally, signs off franchise-altering moves, and then disappears on other projects?

It will prove a challenge for the Raiders to get better – and they are in a division filled with perennial playoff contenders. Meanwhile, other rebuilders have paths. The New York Jets are loaded with upcoming selections. The Titans and Giants have promising young quarterbacks. The Raiders have nothing. No core. No franchise QB. No identity. No plan.

The only thing more dangerous than being bad in the NFL is not recognizing you're underperforming. The Raiders don't know where they are, what they are developing, or who will call the shots in the offseason.

Tom Brady once mastered football through ruthless focus. The Raiders could use more than an hour of it.