Brady expects 'massive improvement' for LV in 2026
Mike Florio reacts to Tom Brady's comments on his expectations for the Raiders next season, examining the ripple effects that may follow and why it's hard to say it starts with him while involved in other ventures.
Video Transcript
Tom Brady was on the Stick to Football podcast, which is about the other football, the football that has taken America by storm over the past few weeks, the football I can't wait to watch three matches on Monday.
Can't wait, round of 32.
I watched Canada beat South Africa in stoppage time.
Yes, I am up on the lingo, and I love the term nutmeg.
I love it.
I love it, even though it was our guy who got nutmegged the other night, leading to the goal by Turquier that kept the United States from going undefeated in the group play.
What was my point?
Oh, Stick to Football, that podcast.
Tom Brady was on it, and I, I saw some bits and pieces that made their way to the various aggregation avenues, and I know that we aggregate.
I don't wanna use that in a pejorative sense.
I'd like to think we do more than that.
But I decided, you know what?
I just need to watch the whole thing, the entire hour and a half.
And I've almost finished it.
I've got a little bit left.
Based upon the chapter designations that appear at the bottom of the YouTube screen, doesn't look like it's gonna be anything rel- relevant to the NFL, but I, I still have to finish it, and I plan to.
One of the things he said relates to the team he partially owns, the Las Vegas Raiders.
Now, he seems to try to compartmentalize the various things he does.
I don't think you can compartmentalize being partial owner of an NFL team, and you know my opinion on this.
I think the league shoulda told him from the moment he tried to hire a chunk of the Raiders, "You either have to abandon that effort or give up your job at Fox.
You can't do both.
It's inherent conflict of interest."
I know that he's a little defensive about that.
He thinks it's an attack on his character.
That's not the point, Tom.
The point is these two jobs, these two positions naturally conflict, and no one should be expected to do both, and no one should want to try to do both.
But speaking in his capacity as a minority owner of the Raiders, he was asked about the Raiders' performance from last year, and specifically what he expects from the Raiders in 2026.
Here's what he had to say.
"I would expect a lot of improvement from where it's been.
Last year we just underperformed in every area, and it's everybody's fault.
That's the reality.
There's nobody who did a good job.
There's not one player in the organization, there's not anybody involved that did the job to the level that it needs to be done at, and everybody needs to improve, and it starts with me, and it filters down to the rest of the players on the field, and they've got to go out there and ultimately they've got to perform at a high level."
A massive improvement is what he later said he would expect.
"And I would expect daily improvement.
I'd expect hourly improvement.
I really would.
Every day that goes by when you're on a good team, every day and every week goes by, you should be better.
A good team should be better at the end of the season than the beginning of the season, or you're not a good team.
If you have more time together and more practice and you're getting worse, something's wrong.
If you have more time, more practice, you should be getting better.
Now, the problem's the off season.
You change players, you change coaches, and now you've got to rebuild to where you were.
A lot of teams I played on, the best game we played all season was the last game of the year.
That says to me a lot about what the team's all about."
So he said a lot there.
And as it was comment about no one on the team performing up to the level that's required, two guys may disagree.
Maxx Crosby and Brock Bowers are the two elite players on the Raiders.
They can't do it themselves.
And I would suspect that Maxx Crosby isn't thrilled to hear that his effort to play most of the season with a meniscus tear in his injury until they shut him down because they didn't wanna win the last two games because they wanted to completely and totally embrace the suck and get the number one overall pick in the draft.
And yes, I believe that's why they shut down their two best players for the last two games.
They were low-key tanking with Brock Bowers and with Maxx Crosby.
Both of those guys may see those comments and say, "What the hell?
What the hell?
Couldn't we at least get a little grace here?
Can't we get an acknowledgement that we're the only good things about the 2025 Raiders and the brightest spots going into 2026?"
So that was odd.
And also the comment, "It starts with me," I didn't know he was now the majority owner.
It starts with Mark Davis, unless Tom just realizes it really doesn't start with Mark Davis, 'cause he really isn't in a position to know what he's doing.
But if it does start with Tom, I know he may not like this, Tom, if it does start with you, what are you doing working for Fox?
What are you doing doing anything other than, you know the thing that the, the Norway fans are doing with the row?
Why You d- If you're doing anything other than sitting in the boat with the rest of the team pulling an oar, it really doesn't start with you.
It's hard for him to say, "It starts with me" when he's viewing this as a hobby, as something he just kinda barnstorms in from time to time to deal with.
And we know that he can't do more than that.
Because on most days the Raiders are playing, Tom's working elsewhere.
Tom's in a stadium calling a game involving two other teams, and also acquiring plenty of insight and information along the way that can be used to help the Raiders.
And to the extent that that starts with him, no, he didn't do a very good job of it last year.
That's been the biggest counter to the whole concept of the conflict of interest that Brady clearly has.
It doesn't work.
He stinks at taking advantage of the information that he can get from these other games and turning it into something useful for the Raiders.
Not that that is something that should be happening, but even as it's being permitted, he's no good at it.
So look, I think it's possible.
I mean, he thinks it's possible to do 10 different things.
I think it's possible to think different things about the same person.
It's possible to say Tom Brady, arguably the greatest quarterback who ever played, the greatest player who ever played, the greatest overall leader, the greatest man to understand what it takes to win and inspire his players to do it like a coach would, but he's got extra credibility because he's on the field.
The all-time greatest.
But, but also, Tom, trying to do a little too much.
I don't know where this is coming from.
I don't know what you're trying to prove.
You've won me over.
You don't need to do 20 different things.
I don't know if this is a race with Peyton Manning to acquire enough money to be the majority owner of a team.
I don't know.
But you don't have to do all this stuff.
Do one or two things really well.
And as to the two things you do on Sundays, own the Raiders and work for Fox, you got to pick one or the other.
You just have to.
Until you do, you're not going to be the best you possibly can be at either one.
And that was a great point that Miles Simmons made when this all first came up.
The idea that he's trying to do this cuts against who he is because he is a guy who is obsessed with being the absolute best he can be at whatever he does.
And putting himself in a position where he can't go to the games, he can't be there on Sunday, he can't go into the locker room and take the temperature and talk to the coach and be whatever he could be to help the team be better.
He just can't physically be there.
Even if we set aside the obvious conflict of interest, how can he be the best that he can possibly be at both being an owner of the Raiders, it all starts with me, and being the guy who aspires to be the greatest broadcaster of all time?
