Las Vegas Raiders branded a mess in radical draft proposal as Tom Brady lays out franchise reboot
Tom Brady knows what it takes to win, and now he’s trying to deliver success in Sin City.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion, who owns a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders, has his work cut out with the under-performing NFL franchise.
The Silver and Black has not won a playoff game since January 2003 — when they played in Oakland — and finished this season as one of the worst teams in the league.
With a 3-14 record, Las Vegas locked up the No. 1 pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, and the chance to reset.
Veteran head coach Pete Carroll was one and done in Sin City and was fired on ‘Black Monday’ — less than 24 hours after the regular-season concluded.
In a statement announcing that news on January 5, Raiders owner Mark Davis indicated that Brady will take on a larger role within the franchise and will be a key voice in the search for Carroll’s replacement.
Nearly two weeks on, and the legendary quarterback has revealed exactly what he’s hoping the new candidate will bring to Vegas.
Tom Brady offers update in Raiders HC search
“I think every team right now is going through their own process to try to figure out what best suits them,” Brady told the Associated Press, in an interview published Thursday.
“We want to deliver a winner in Las Vegas. The fan base deserves it, and it’s been a long time.
“So, there’s a lot of pieces of the puzzle you got to get right, but I’m certainly very excited that we’re going to get things going in the right direction.”
As of January 15, the Raiders have conducted interviews with seven head coach candidates.
Former Cleveland Browns HC Kevin Stefanski, and Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy both spoke to Las Vegas last week.
As did Davis Webb and Vance Joseph, who currently work with the Denver Broncos as offensive pass game coordinator/quarterbacks coach and defensive coordinator respectively.
Klint Kubiak, OC of the Seattle Seahawks, rounded off last week’s interviews.
Los Angeles Chargers DC, Jesse Minter, and Ejiro Evero, the Carolina Panthers DC, also met with Las Vegas on Wednesday and more names are likely to emerge.
While much of Brady’s attention is currently on landing a new head coach, attention will soon turn to that top draft pick.
Raiders icon sends warning over 2026 draft
The last time the Raiders had the No. 1 selection was back in 2007, and it’s fair to say they wasted it on an all-time bust in JaMarcus Russell.
In 2026, they cannot afford to make the same mistake.
Fernando Mendoza, the Indiana Hoosiers quarterback who has led his team to the National Championship game, is projected to go first overall.
Many believe the Raiders are in desperate need of a new signal caller following Geno Smith’s dismal season, but franchise icon Derek Carr has offered a warning over throwing a young star in too early.
He believes there are far too many holes on the roster as it stands, and that improvement needs to be made on the offensive line, and in the wide receiver room, to give any incoming signal caller a chance.
“I’m all against that,” the four-time Pro Bowler said on the Home Grown podcast, when discussing the idea of selecting a QB when the rest of the roster needs a lot of work.
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“I don’t know if they’re ready for that. There are so many holes.
“There’s no young quarterback that you’re just gonna insert, unless they fix other things.
“Geno (Smith) can read coverage. Geno knows where to go with the ball. Aidan (O’Connell) knows coverage. There’s no young guy that’s gonna know more ball than them now.”
Carr went on to suggest that Mendoza has the ability to go No. 1, but that the Raiders should spend money to improve the O-line before drafting him.
He added: “Is Mendoza good enough to be the No. 1 pick? Absolutely. Of course he is. I’m trying to protect him.
“Build the trenches… if they go and take all that money they got there in Vegas now, and they go buy an offensive line, then draft the kid.”
Deciding who to draft first overall was never expected to be an easy task.
Fans are desperate to see Mendoza under center for the Raiders next year, but as Carr points out, there is no point in taking the promising star without filling the holes around him.
Brady, it seems, will have plenty of work to do in the coming weeks and months.
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