Dana White dropped a huge NFL rumor on Saturday night, revealing that Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski were close to joining the Raiders as free agents in 2020. However, then-Raiders coach Jon Gruden decided against the deal at the last minute.
White appeared on ESPN’s UFC 278 with The Gronks on Saturday night, where he said Gronkowski urged him to tell the story of him recruiting Brady to Las Vegas.
“I didn’t want to talk about that, no, but he sort of sucked me into it on live TV,” White said. “Yeah, it’s true. I talked Brady into playing for the Raiders, and Gronk was coming with him.”
White, who is a Raiders fan, confirmed the story while talking to the media after the event. He claims that he helped negotiate a deal between Las Vegas and Brady, but Gruden backed out at the last second.
“They were negotiating the deal and they were really close to getting it done, and then Gruden pulled the deal,” he said. “Brady was not happy about it. Neither was I.”
However, White never intended to reveal that information in any scenario until he appeared on Gronkowski’s broadcast.
“I thought that I would never tell that story publicly,” he said.
Brady would go on to sign with the Buccaneers and win another Super Bowl, while the Raiders stuck with Derek Carr, who remains the team’s quarterback.
