Going in, everybody knew that Tom Brady’s job at FOX might clash with his minority ownership of the Las Vegas Raiders one way or the other. Alas, that time has come and the Raiders owner, Mark Davis, wishes Brady to be more active. That’s because Davis wants to improve his team and believes that the 7x Super Bowl winner sees the whole “picture.”

The crazy thing is, Davis mentioned that he “promised” FOX that he wouldn’t get in the way of Brady’s job. But now he’s changed his mind. “Obviously, I talk to him all the time, and his input is greatly valued and will always be valued,” the Raiders owner said when he spoke to the media. Mike Florio picked up the conversation and gave his take on the situation.

Per Florio, Tom Brady is perhaps the only minority owner who’s involved with his team to such an extent that the owner directly seeks his advice. But there’s a conflict of interest here. To keep both his jobs, Brady must take drastic measures. Case in point, he can’t visit other teams’ facilities, cannot witness practices, cannot criticize officials. He also must abide by the league’s gambling policy. He won’t get relief anytime soon.

Addressing Mark Davis’s comments, Florio said, “Davis says, ‘I promised FOX that we wouldn’t interfere with Brady’s job.’ Davis is the one who should be saying, ‘Tom if you want to do this, get rid of the FOX job and let’s do this right.’” However, Chris Simms, his colleague on PFT, had another opinion on Brady juggling his 5% Raiders ownership and a 10-year $375 million FOX deal.

The former NFL QB, Simms, thinks Tom Brady can have his cake and eat it too. He’s perfectly capable of alternating between these jobs. While Simms thinks that Brady handling two things at a time is a ‘cool thing,’ Florio believes that TB12 can do it because he’s just too famous.

“I can’t imagine an owner of any other team broadcasting games. But, this is where we are in post-standards America where, ‘Do what you want and if you’re famous enough, you get away with it,” Florio said on PFT. His statement is kind of true, though. Tom Brady got a hefty discount on his Raiders ownership. Per Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal, Brady bought a piece of Raiders at an evaluation of $3.5 billion.

“Per Fischer, Brady and his co-investor, Knighthead Capital Management founder Tom Wagner, will pay $244 million total for the team, $24 million of which is a prorated tax arising from the team’s 2020 relocation to Las Vegas,” as quoted by NBC. With that settled, let’s investigate the Raiders’ owner’s dealings with Brady.

Mark Davis gets candid about Tom Brady

The Las Vegas Raiders sit at 2-11 till week 14, clearly facing too many issues to address. The media caught up with Mark Davis after the NFL owners’ meeting and the topic of Tom Brady came up. Though Brady isn’t involved in the day-to-day practice of the Raiders, he still has a say in draft picks. Using Brady’s expertise to draft players has always been one of Davis’ mottos. However, the Raiders owner hinted that Brady’s role will “evolve” over time.

“When Tom was hired (as an analyst), I promised to Fox that we would not get in the way of Tom’s job and that he’s going to be one of the best announcers in the game,” Davis said. “Anything he does with the Raiders will be in the future, as far as that goes. Obviously, I talk to him all of the time and his input is greatly valued and will always be valued. We’ll see as time goes on how his role evolves.”

Davis took ownership of the Raiders falling flat this season. However, he also criticized the people who are responsible for the football side of it. What the Raiders owner does is, he gives autonomy to people who know football and let their results speak for them. Clearly, Antonio Pierce and Tom Telesco aren’t doing a great job. That’s why he needs someone like Brady, who can at least sort the drafting part out.