Tom Brady hasn’t even completed the first year of his blockbuster deal with Fox Sports but the NFL legend is already facing questions on whether he will return for a second.
Brady, who is set to be the color commentator alongside play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt for Super Bowl LIX, has endured an onslaught of criticism throughout the rookie season of his $375million, 10-year deal with the network.
However, most recently it has been his other role within the NFL that has raised questions over his future in the booth.
The former quarterback became a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders in October and, despite the league implementing multiple rules to minimize a conflict of interest, many fans and analysts have slammed Brady’s attempt to juggle both jobs.
Many have suggested Brady may not be behind the mic’ next season, while others have gone as far as to call on Fox to terminate his contract.
But the seven-time Super Bowl winner’s agent, Don Yee, insisted his client is going nowhere.
‘Tom has had a tremendous amount of fun working with Fox this year, and he’s really excited about the future with Fox and his growth on their team,’ Yee told Sports Business Journal on Thursday. ‘And this year was the first year of a long relationship.’
When asked if that meant Brady will stick it out for his remaining nine years, Yee adamantly insisted it did.
The doubt over Brady’s future stems from his NFL double agency. Brady may be Fox Sports’ lead NFL analyst, but he is also the voice of the Raiders.
Raiders owner Mark Davis recently revealed that Brady will have a ‘huge voice’ in the franchise’s future but former MLB executive Davis Samson claimed that the retired NFL star can’t be both.
‘Tom Brady is running that team right now – the NFL knows it and Fox knows it and something has got to give. So enjoy Tom in the booth because you’re not going to see him there next year,’ Samson told the Dan Le Batard Show.
‘He will be in the Raiders front office, he will not return as an analyst for Fox – you cannot be this involved in the operation of a team and be the No 1 analyst.
‘It’s an absolute insult to analysts what he’s doing. And it’s an insult to team president what he’s doing.
‘You end up doing both of them in a mediocre way… and I promise you he will choose the Raiders.’
When asked to clarify if that was an assumption or information he had been told, Samson added: ‘Tom Brady will not be with Fox next season, he’ll be full time in the Raiders front office running that team. Period.’
Most recently, Brady has courted controversy amid the Raiders’ search for a new head coach – a hunt the 47-year-old is heading up.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion is reportedly playing a big part in the search for Antonio Pierce’s replacement after the Raiders head coach was fired last week.
The Raiders have interviewed or are scheduled to interview Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, former Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and ex-New York Jets coach Robert Saleh.
And Brady is said to be favoring Johnson with the retired signal caller ‘enamored’ by him, according to NFL Insider Ian Rapoport.
Brady, a minority owner for the Raiders, has also spent time with Johnson’s agent, Rapoport said.
However, with Brady slated to call the Lions’ Divisional Round playoff game against the Commanders for Fox at the weekend, it has drawn yet more accusations of a conflict of interest.
‘How does that go with Tom Brady’s game this weekend?,’ Dan Patrick asked on his radio show Wednesday.
‘He’s got the Lions game with the Commanders. What happens if they show Ben Johnson on the sideline? Is Tom Brady, minority owner of the Raiders, allowed to talk about Ben Johnson? Does he have any inside info? Which I believe he would. I love how the NFL makes it seem like, “This isn’t a conflict of interest.”‘
