A theory has emerged that Tom Brady could exit his retirement from the NFL for a second time after his investment in the Las Vegas Raiders.
The seven-time Super Bowl winning quarterback officially announced he was retiring from the sport at the end of last season. Brady helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers reach the AFC Wild Card round but they were beaten by the Dallas Cowboys, two years on from their Super Bowl triumph.
Now that Brady has officially retired from the game, it hasn’t taken long for him to get back into football. It first emerged earlier in the week that Brady was looking to acquire a minority share of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Reports stated that Brady’s bid to buy a small share of the Raiders had already been agreed and submitted to the NFL for approval. Should the deal be approved, then Brady’s role at the Raiders is only thought to be “passive” with no authority or control over the team or the business.
If the deal goes through it would leave it highly unlikely that Brady could come out of retirement to play again. However, a theory has emerged that involves quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
The veteran QB was signed by the Raiders during the off-season after leaving the San Francisco 49ers. But Garoppolo is currently recovering from a serious ankle injury that required him to undergo surgery.
A report from NBC Sports has claimed to reveal some details over the contract between the Raiders and Garoppolo. It’s stated that a waiver was included as part of a clause in the contract which addresses the injury suffered by the quarterback.
It is claimed the waiver includes a series of agreements that Garoppolo needed to agree to in order to be able to sign for the Raiders. It includes one clauses which says that he would not get any of his $22.5m base salary until he passes a medical.
It’s also stated that Garoppolo has been warned of a potential “permanent disability” which could be caused by continuing his playing career. It is said that Garoppolo has assumed all the risks in carrying on playing, waiving all claims that could be made against the Raiders, the league, and anyone else who could be connected to the injury.
Should Garoppolo pass his medical, become active for a regular season game, or not suffer any re-injury to his foot with the Raiders, then the whole waiver would be rendered null and void, the report adds. But it’s also stated that the Raiders have the ability to terminate the contract for any reason connected to Garoppolo's injury.
It's also possible that Garoppolo could never play for the Raiders or even get paid any money, should he fail his medical.
This is where the Brady theory comes in, with speculation that the 45-year-old could exit his retirement to play for the Raiders if Garoppolo fails his medical. However, Brady would find it very difficult to be able to return to the field in a Raiders jersey.
League rules prevent part-owners from playing in a "dual role" with having a stake in a team as well as playing for them, without having the permission of all 32 NFL teams. That would mean that the Raiders would need to seek the approval from their rivals in order to let Brady be a part of their roster.
