The Las Vegas Raiders’ plans are starting to take shape, and you can see the influence of Tom Brady’s time in Tampa Bay in these plans.
The Raiders have hired John Spytek as their new general manager. Spytek’s football career intersected with Brady’s twice: once when they both played college football at Michigan, and again when Spytek worked in the Buccaneers’ front office.
The general manager Spytek worked under in Tampa, Jason Licht, was also part of the New England Patriots’ scouting staff and front office during Brady’s time with the team. Licht reshaped the Buccaneers’ culture by hiring the 68-year-old Bruce Arians out of retirement, and when Arians and Licht wanted to make a strong cultural impact, they brought in Brady late in his career.
If we compare plans, you can see some similarities to what Brady experienced in Tampa Bay. Spytek is like Licht, and Pete Carroll, who was hired by the Raiders on Friday, is similar to Arians. The next step is for Brady to find his own version of Tom Brady, or at least someone he trusts to help build a strong foundation for the team.
Russell Wilson might be an option for this role
This has become a real possibility due to Wilson’s history with Carroll from their time together with the Seattle Seahawks, as well as Wilson being a reliable veteran quarterback who can help guide the Raiders until they find their next long-term starter.
Wilson’s free-agent market will likely be limited, so he could be open to a short-term contract with performance-based incentives instead of a long-term, guaranteed deal.
Does this make Wilson the Raiders’ next quarterback? Not necessarily. But it gives them another option at the position while still keeping the door open to drafting a quarterback in April. At 36, with some of his physical abilities declining, Wilson’s challenge now is finding a team willing to offer him a starting role. If that means going to a team that is planning to develop a younger player behind him, Wilson might have to accept that.
Any team that brings Wilson on board will likely use him as a temporary solution rather than a long-term fix. If he were more than a stopgap, the Pittsburgh Steelers wouldn’t have let him go to free agency.
While he might not be the quarterback that Raiders fans are hoping for, he could provide the franchise with time if neither Cam Ward nor Shedeur Sanders are seen as worthy of trading assets for in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Another key decision for the Raiders will be Carroll’s choice of offensive coordinator, which will likely come from a group of familiar names. One of Wilson’s former offensive coordinators in Seattle, Darrell Bevell, might be considered.
Other candidates could include former Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and Tampa Bay’s current quarterbacks coach, Thad Lewis, both of whom worked with Brady during his time in Tampa.
Bevell, a trusted assistant for Carroll, is now the quarterbacks coach for the Miami Dolphins. Leftwich, however, has not coached in the NFL since he was fired by the Buccaneers after the 2022 season.
