Did Tom Brady Throw Shade at Raiders & Derek Carr?
During last offseason, there was a lot of speculation that the Las Vegas Raiders could be a team that targeted Tom Brady in free agency. Some rumors even suggested that the team put together an offer. Once free agency came, the Raiders didnt appear to show much interest as Brady ended up signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That obviously ended up being the right call as he won a Super Bowl in his first year with the team. Derek Carr put together a strong season for the Raiders but they missed the playoffs. Its fair to wonder if the team wouldve made it to the playoffs with Brady at the helm. The future Hall of Famer was recently a guest on HBOs The Shop and opened up about his free agency last year. During the segment, he took a shot at an unnamed team that stopped showing interest in him towards the end and even threw shade at their quarterback. Many have speculated that he had to be referencing either the Raiders with Carr, the San Francisco 49ers with Jimmy Garoppolo, the Tennessee Titans with Ryan Tannehill or the Chicago Bears with Mitch Trubisky. !  Had to be one of 4 teams:  Raiders (Carr)  49ers (Garoppolo)  Titans (Tannehill)  Bears (Trubisky)pic.twitter.com/P6fGMlOgGn  Jordan Moore (@iJordanMoore) June 21, 2021  Considering Carr is a three-time Pro Bowler, its hard to imagine Brady was ripping on him. The most obvious player to shade would be Trubisky, who couldnt even get re-signed by the Bears after the season. That said, its possible hes talking about any number of quarterbacks. Regardless, hes likely happy that whichever team hes referencing ended up passing on him. ALL the latest Raiders news straight to your inbox! Subscribe to the Heavy on Raiders newsletter here! Join Heavy on Raiders! Whats very interesting is that the Raiders may have been able to sign Brady had they wanted to. NFL Networks Ian Rapoport reported last year that the quarterback wanted the Raiders. Tom Brady wanted to play for Raiders & the 49ers according to @RapSheet.  Full episode: https://t.co/EeT6POhxXs pic.twitter.com/cgIXP3Cbv6  Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) April 7, 2020  Its not often the greatest quarterback in NFL history wants to play for a specific team and it doesnt happen. Las Vegas wouldve provided an interesting opportunity for Brady as its a big market with a rabid fan base. However, the Raiders werent as close to Super Bowl contention as the Buccaneers were. Raiders Should Be Content With Decision  Brady gets most of the credit for the Buccaneers winning the Super Bowl but theres no way he wouldve even made it to the big game without the teams stout defense. The Raiders defense was nowhere close to Tampa Bays. Las Vegas has a very young team so throwing a 43-year-old quarterback in the mix wouldnt make much sense. Tampa Bay was always a better fit considering their roster. For the Raiders, had they signed Brady and moved on from Carr, it couldve set the team back. If the roster wasnt good enough Brady to win a Super Bowl, they wouldve given up a quarterback who could be a starter for several more years for a guy who only has a year or two left. Obviously, Carr is nowhere near Brady in the history books but hes good enough to get the Raiders back in the playoffs with the right roster around him. READ NEXT: Lynn Bowden Opens up About Raiders Tenure, Puts Jon Gruden on Blast