Prospective Las Vegas Raiders minority owner Tom Brady still speaks highly of former New England Patriots teammate Jimmy Garoppolo despite theories that the seven-time NFL champion could come out of retirement to replace 'Jimmy G' on the Raiders.
Brady, 45, retired from football for the second time on February 1. The announcement came exactly a year after initially doing so only to reverse that decision 40 days later to spend another season on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The following month he acquired a minority stake in the WNBA 's Las Vegas Aces, which the Raiders owner Mark Davis also owns. Then, earlier in May, Brady was said to have agreed on a similar arrangement to buy into the city's NFL franchise.
Before both of Brady's agreements, Garoppolo, 31, signed a three-year, $67.5 million with the Raiders after being released by the San Francisco 49ers following six seasons in Northern California. The last of those campaigns ended in early December due to a foot injury.
The quarterback is still not over that issue and has missed this month's OTAs after eventually opting for surgery since arriving in Nevada. A potential return date is at the start of training camp in late July.
The seriousness of that injury has reportedly led to the team inserting an injury waiver into their deal with Garoppolo. In short, he must pass a medical, and the Raiders can cut him without any further obligations if he fails.
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That latter point is where the theories are arising from. Should 'Jimmy G' not be good to go or even re-injure his left foot, then Brady could increase his involvement with the club and return to the field to fill the void.
Rules are there to prevent owners from fulfilling dual roles within an organisation. A change could, in theory, go through should enough of the other team owners vote it through. Whether they would do so to benefit a desperate rival in that scenario is another question entirely.
If Brady would consider such a return is unclear too. He has been a vocal fan of Garoppolo's in the past, which suggests he would be happy with 'Jimmy G' quarterbacking.
"Jimmy’s done well since he got to the Niners," Brady said last year before the foot injury. "He has brought them to the Super Bowl, and he has just done an amazing job.
"I think anytime you deal with the adversity that he has dealt with, he had a major shoulder injury, he had a thumb injury in the playoffs last year.
"Then all he hears is that he is gonna get traded. Next thing you know, he is the starting quarterback for the same team. And I think he has handled this situation extremely well. Handled it with a lot of dignity, with a lot of grace. And he has gone out there and helped the team win games."
