Tom Brady’s nixed deal with the Raiders is hilarious in every way

Imagine how different the AFC West would have felt for the last couple of years if Jon Gruden had allowed Tom Brady and Gronk to join the Raiders.

When it comes to talent at the quarterback position, the AFC West is absolutely loaded. With Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Russell Wilson, and Derek Carr under center, there is no division in football with more talent at QB.

On Saturday night, however, we learned that the division could have been even more loaded after Dana White, president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, shared a story of how Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski almost joined the Las Vegas Raiders. The conversation was part of UFC 278 with the Gronks and it starts off simple enough before White drops a bombshell.

“I could have been in Vegas with you for the last three years,” Gronkowski says.

“You would have been, you would have been,” replies White.

“I worked to put that deal together for Brady and Gronk to come to the Raiders and it was almost a done deal. And at the last minute, [Jon] Gruden blew the deal up and said that he didn’t want them. And all hell broke loose, it was crazy. Brady was already looking at houses. Las Vegas would have had Brady and Gronk the year that the Bucs won the Super Bowl, except Gruden blew the deal up. I was never going to tell that story until Gronk just said it.”

As wild as the story might seem, Gronk backed it up straight away “And Dana, that is exactly what happened,” Gronk said moments after White finished speaking.

Imagine what could have been: Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady going head-to-head in the same division. Sure, if Brady really had become a Raider, we wouldn’t have got to see a Brady-Mahomes Super Bowl. But imagine getting to watch Brady, the greatest quarterback the NFL has ever seen, going up against Mahomes, the brightest young talent in the game today, twice every season.

It would have been incredible.

And who knows how that would have reshaped the division. The Chiefs have had the Raiders’ number for the better part of a decade going 15-3 against Las Vegas since 2013, including winning eight of their last nine. But with Brady at QB instead of Carr and Gronk on the field as well, maybe, that run of dominance might have changed for the silver and black.

Of course, as a Chiefs fan, I love hearing that the Raiders missed out on Brady and Gronk. Knowing what the Buccaneers achieved with them and knowing how the Raiders have fared in the meantime, it is frankly hilarious to think about what they might have missed out on. And if White’s story really is true and it really was Gruden, the Las Vegas head coach at the time, who put an end to the deal at the last moment, it adds another inept chapter to the story of his tumultuous second tenure with the Raiders.

Taking Carr over Brady? Really? It was a big call to make, but surely, of all the teams in all the cities, it would have been Las Vegas who realized the reward was worth a gamble.

Another clip that was doing the rounds on social media following White’s story could suggest that Brady himself thinks choosing Carr over him was a questionable decision. In the promo clip from the HBO show The Shop Uninterrupted, Brady appears to be talking about his path to joining the Bucs. “One of the teams and they weren’t interested in at the very end, and I was thinking, you’re sticking with that mother****,” Brady says.

It’s not entirely clear if Brady is indeed talking about joining the Raiders, but what he says does seem to fit in with White’s story, and if so, that person he references would be Carr. Ouch!

Looking back, this seems like it could be an all-time sliding doors moment for the Raiders. Imagine how Brady could have reshaped that team. Imagine how good they could have been or how deep into the playoffs they might have gone. Imagine Brady in that offense now with Davante Adams, going head-to-head with Herbert, Wilson, and Mahomes.

For Las Vegas, all their fans will be able to do now is imagine what could have been. As history shows, the Raiders missed out. And you won’t hear any Chiefs fans feeling sorry for them about that.