Tom Brady has taken a big step closer to becoming an NFL owner, complicating his route back to the field due to regulations in the depths of the league's rule book.
Brady's bid to acquire a minority share in the Las Vegas Raiders has been accepted and submitted to the NFL for approval, per Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. The seven-time Super Bowl champion is already in business with Raiders owner Mark Davis, holding a stake in WNBA franchise the Las Vegas Aces.
Rumours have swirled that the all-time-great quarterback could come out of retirement for a second time since he announced on February 1 that his career was over – exactly a year to the day after he first called time on a glorious career.
Dodging a question about his future at an event in Miami just a few weeks later fuelled speculation that the 45-year-old had not closed the door on returning to the NFL, but if he still craves to take to the field again – and it is hard to rule it out despite his insistence that he is "retired for good" because his first one lasted just 41 days – his acquisition of a stake in the Raiders will make that much harder.
League rules prevent part-owners from playing in a "dual role" without permission from the owners of the other 31 teams, and it is unlikely that enough of them would permit Brady to do so because they would not want to give a rival a boost.
Per ESPN, Brady is not looking to don the famous silver and black of the Raiders during an NFL game and his role as an investor is expected to be "passive", with no authority or control over key decisions involving the team or the business. His upcoming 10-year, $375million (£301m) TV deal with Fox, which begins in 2024, is not affected by the agreement, with the broadcaster giving their approval.
Brady's value, instead, will come from his celebrity status and ability to power marketing efforts in the hope of tapping into Sin City's enormous potential three years on from the Raiders' move from their historic Oakland home.
The certain first-ballot Hall of Famer may not have playing again on his mind at the moment, but it is a case of once bitten, twice shy for followers of the NFL; Brady's short-lived first retirement and the unsatisfying conclusion to his final two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers give reason to remain open-minded about what his future might look like, despite his concise retirement statement three months ago.
Before news of his imminent investment in the Raiders emerged, Las Vegas looked like a plausible landing spot were Brady to make another comeback at some point during the 2023 campaign. There is familiarity with head coach Josh McDaniels, who was Brady's offensive guru for much of his time with the New England Patriots, and first-string QB Jimmy Garoppolo has been injury prone in recent years.
There are reasons to believe the Raiders have a competitive roster, too, with a solid offensive line and star players in skill positions like Davante Adams and Josh Jacobs.
Were a quarterback crisis to emerge at Allegiant Stadium this season, Brady has the makings of an ideal player to step in, but it seems clearer than ever that his career as a player is over and his next chapter as an owner and broadcaster is beginning.
