Tom Brady on verge of joining Raiders, not Dolphins
The possibility of Tom Brady becoming a part owner of the Miami Dolphins, or possibly coming out of retirement to serve as the break-in-case-of-emergency quarterback seems to be decreasing.
Brady, the future Hall of Fame quarterback who retired earlier this year after 23 seasons of playing, is in “deep discussions” to acquire a minority ownership stake in the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, according to ESPN.
“Discussions between the two sides have been going on for weeks and could soon be reaching a resolution, yet sources say it’s still an extremely sensitive and fluid negotiation,” ESPN is reporting.
“Brady’s investment is expected to be ‘passive,’ a source with direct knowledge of the situation says, and he would not have any operational control or authority over the club in business or football matters.”
If the deal goes through, the long-shot chance of Brady coming out of retirement to quarterback the Dolphins if something happened to Tua Tagovailoa from a health standpoint would be eliminated.
There had been plenty of league-wide speculation that was Miami's backup plan if Tagovailoa struggled with concussions this season, or suffered a season-ending injury, and Brady had done little to extinguish those talks, pointing out he has "friends" on the Dolphins in a recent public appearance.
A deal is also not expected to impact Brady’s $375 million, 10-year agreement to become FOX Sports’ No. 1 game analyst starting with the 2024 season.
The NFL’s policies on overlapping media employment will only kick in if the potential owner holds a position of authority that could impact media rights negotiations, according to ESPN.
This could potentially mark the seven-time Super Bowl winner’s second ownership foray with Raiders majority owner Mark Davis.
In March, Brady purchased a stake in the WNBA Las Vegas Aces, which is also majority owned by Davis.
Citing sources, ESPN said FOX has “blessed” the possible deal.
According to ProFootballTalk, Brady initially planned on becoming a minority owner of the Dolphins when he announced his retirement in February of 2022.
It was his relationship with then owner-in-waiting Bruce Beal that led to those conversations.
Miami then planned on pursuing former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton with the idea of putting together a "package deal" featuring Brady.
With Brady as a minority owner, the Dolphins would have then attempted to get his contractual rights from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to add him to the playing roster.
However, that plan fell through for various reasons, and the Dolphins hired Mike McDaniel as the head coach.
Miami subsequently was hit with tampering charges following an investigation from the NFL, and was fined $1.5 million and lost a 2023 first-round pick and a 2024 third-round selection for holding unauthorized conversations with Payton and Brady's camp.
That penalty led to Beal being stripped of his owner-in-waiting status, which was given to Ross’ daughter Jennifer Ross, according to Sports Business Journal.
