There has been a lot of discussion involving the quarterback position for the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason. They moved on from long-time starter, Derek Carr, days after the Super Bowl to avoid his contract becoming guaranteed. In free agency, the team replaced him with Jimmy Garoppolo.
Alas, Garoppolo’s status for the 2023 season is up in the air. He didn’t pass his physical at the time of his contract signing as he needed to undergo surgery on his foot that he didn’t originally believe he would need. That has led to the possibility that Garoppolo won’t be under center in Week 1 if he cannot pass a physical.
That is a worst-case scenario for the Raiders, whose backup options aren’t overly inspiring if they were forced into being starters. Right now Brian Hoyer, Chase Garbers and rookie Aidan O’Connell currently round out the quarterback depth chart.
One player who has been linked to the Raiders earlier this offseason was Tom Brady. He retired earlier this offseason but rumors keep popping up about him returning. Brady himself has said that his retirement is permanent, but he continues to be mentioned as an option for Las Vegas.
This time it was star pass rusher Maxx Crosby who stoked the flame. He made an appearance on Von Miller on his show, Voncast, Crosby revealed that becoming teammates with Brady isn’t something that would shock him.
“Obviously, we’ve got Jimmy G. He’s coming back, and he’s going to be healthy. But you never know what’s going to happen. Tom Brady is a competitor. At the absolute worst, if everything doesn’t go the way it’s supposed to and we need him, I would not be surprised if Tom Brady shows up in a Raiders jersey.” (H/T MSN)
Brady has been adamant that he is retired, but he has been linked to the Raiders as he moves toward becoming an owner. The league has yet to approve that, but all signs point to that getting done sooner than later.
Should Garoppolo not be able to play, putting the full-court press on Brady to bring him out of retirement would be the best course of action. As Crosby noted, Brady is a competitor and if he were to come back, he would put the Raiders in a position to become instant contenders.
