Tom Brady has been out of the NFL for more than three months, but he has all the time he needs to join the NFL's ownership class.
According to ESPN's Seth Wickersum and Adam Schefter, the former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback is in “deep discussions” with Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis to buy into the franchise and become a limited partner.
Wickersham and Schefter said discussions have been going on for weeks and a solution is in sight. However, sources told him that it is “Still an extremely sensitive and fluid conversation.”
Brady, who retired in February after 23 years in the NFL, is already a partial owner of another Davis franchise, the Las Vegas Aces. She acquired a minority stake in the WNBA team in March, less than six months after Brady won her first WNBA title.
Gaining an ownership stake in an NFL team has been one of Brady's goals for some time. He had tried to buy into the Miami Dolphins a few years earlier, but an NFL investigation found that owner Stephen Ross and another team executive had violated antitrust rules by talking with Brady.
If Brady and Davis come to a minority partner agreement, 75 percent of NFL owners must approve it before it can be finalized.
Brady is (almost certainly) permanently retired
Brady originally retired in February 2022, but changed his mind just two months later and returned to the NFL for the season. When he retired again in February 2023, people were naturally suspicious. Brady said it was for the good this time, but it was hard to believe the guy who changed his mind about the same decision exactly a year ago.
But this time, it appears that Brady really is done for good. Not only are the Patriots honoring him at Gillette Stadium in Week 1 (he'll be busy playing when he plans to return to the NFL), but he's now reportedly in talks to acquire a minor stake in an NFL team. Are. As Greg Aumann of Fox Sports pointed out, the NFL does not allow a player to be part of one team and play for another.
Brady also may not be suitable for the Raiders if Jimmy Garoppolo goes down during the season. The only way to do this is if 75 percent of NFL owners agree to it in a vote.
So it really looks like Brady is playing for good. Though one can't be blamed for waiting until the end of the 2023 season to fully believe.