Tom Brady wanted Raiders to stay away from this veteran quarterback during free agency, per report

When the 2025 NFL offseason started, it was pretty clear that the Las Vegas Raiders were going to look at adding an experienced quarterback. 

The Raiders used three quarterbacks in 2024 — Gardner Minshew, Desmond Ridder and Aidan O’Connell — and those three starters combined to go 4-13. 

With the Raiders in the market for a QB, one of the most intriguing names who was going to be hitting free agency was Sam Darnold, who was fresh off leading the Minnesota Vikings to a 14-3 record in 2024, the second-most wins the Vikings have ever had in a season. After the Vikings made the decision not to use the franchise tag on Darnold, that meant he was going to hit free agency and at that point, there was a lot of speculation that the Raiders might look into signing him. 

Of course, Darnold didn’t end up with the Raiders and one reason for that is because Tom Brady apparently didn’t want him. According to The Athletic, Brady was “not in favor” of going after Darnold, which might explain why the Raiders never made a serious effort to land the former first-round pick. 

If Brady doesn’t want the Raiders to go after a certain quarterback, the team is likely going to listen to him. The seven-time Super Bowl winner officially became a minority owner in the Raiders back in October and that investment definitely gives him some say in what goes on in the organization, especially at quarterback.  

Raiders owner Mark Davis had said in December that he wanted Brady to have a “huge voice” in what the Raiders do. 

“I want Tom to have a huge voice. No question about it,” Davis said. “It’s part of building the infrastructure of the organization, which is something that we didn’t have … a football person on that side of it that’s not a coach or a general manager, but somebody who can oversee the whole picture.”

At the time, NFL Media also reported that Brady would have a big voice when it comes to picking a quarterback, and Brady didn’t want Darnold, which might explain why Darnold was never a serious option for the Raiders. Brady is definitely familiar with Darnold’s game because the two quarterbacks played in the AFC East together for two seasons. Darnold went 0-4 against Brady in his career. 

Although the Raiders didn’t really give any consideration to signing Darnold, they did end up adding a veteran quarterback when they made a trade for Geno Smith in March. The Raiders sent a 2025 third-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for Smith, who will be reuniting with new Raiders coach Pete Carroll in Las Vegas. 

Raiders general manager John Spytek admitted that the team consulted with Brady before making the trade for Smith and apparently, Brady was on board with the move. 

“He really respected Geno — the way he can process and throw the football,” Spytek said of Brady’s thoughts on Smith, via The Athletic. 

Smith is now eager to learn as much as he can from the seven-time Super Bowl winner. 

“I want to be a sponge,” Smith said in April. “I want to soak up as much knowledge as I can from him. I want to learn as much as I can from him. He’s the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.”

After the Seahawks traded Smith, they were in need of a quarterback and they ended up filling that hole by signing Darnold. The two teams won’t face each other in the regular season this year, but they will meet up on Aug. 7, when they open the preseason with a game against each other in Seattle.