Tom Brady took an uncharacteristic shot at a fellow NFL quarterback not long after he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020, and we now have further proof of which player was on the receiving end of the criticism.
While Brady was discussing his free-agent experience on an episode of HBO’s “The Shop” in 2021, he expressed disbelief that one particular team did not want to sign him. Brady said he thought to himself, “You’re sticking with that motherf—er?” when the team opted to remain with their quarterback over signing the seven-time Super Bowl champion.
Brady, of course, did not name the team or player. Some speculated that he was talking about Ryan Tannehill and the Tennessee Titans. Others mentioned Mitchell Trubisky and the Chicago Bears. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported that Brady’s shot was at Derek Carr and the Las Vegas Raiders.
In an interview that was published by the Raiders on Thursday, team owner Mark Davis all but confirmed that Brady was referring to Carr. Davis said that former Las Vegas head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock chose to stick with Carr, despite Davis wanting Brady.
“He was supposed to be here in 2020. That’s when our relationship started, was in 2020 when he was a free agent and we talked to him about coming here to play quarterback,” Davis said, as transcribed by Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. “Obviously, it was a tough decision, he was close to coming here, but the head coach and general manager decided they wanted to go in a different direction. So, we didn’t sign him, but as I got to know him through that process, I let his agent know that when he was done playing, I would like him to be a part of our organization.”
Besides the Buccaneers, the other finalist for Brady in 2020 was reported to be the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers did not have a starting quarterback in place at the time. Brady said the team he took a shot at was not one he wanted to play for anyway, so it makes sense for it to have been the Raiders.
Like the New England Patriots, some teams probably felt that they were better off focusing on building around a young quarterback rather than signing Brady, who was 42 when he joined the Bucs. That didn’t work out too well for the Patriots or the other teams that had interest in Brady.
