More than 800 points were scored in Week 2 of the 2025 regular season. But as the final game of the week, a prime-time divisional match-up between the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders, was wrapping up, all anyone could seem to focus on was Tom Brady. The former face of the New England Patriots was spotted sitting inside the Raiders’ coaches’ box on Monday night, and that alone was enough for fans to cry “foul.”
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Typically, a former player and partial owner of a team sitting in their franchise’s coaching booth wouldn’t raise any suspicions, but then again, most of them aren’t broadcasters who also receive exclusive information either. It’s been confirmed by Pete Carroll that Brady is routinely working with the Raiders’ offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly, yet he is also being allowed to interview players and coaches from rival teams for his broadcasting obligations.
Suffice to say, that’s a pretty damning conflict of interest. According to many, including Skip Bayless, “it’s such a bad look” for the NFL and “everybody that is involved.”
“He’s bullying this league. He took a deal to work for Fox, 10-years for $375 million,” Skip said. “Then, he turned right around on top of that, and he bought five percent of the now Las Vegas Raiders… I fell out of my chair last night when I saw him sitting in the coaches box with a head set on… He is blatantly ‘f-you’ing’ the entire league and my former network,” he added.
Unfortunately, conflicting interests seem to have become the norm for professional sports in recent times, especially when it comes to the National Football League. Perhaps the most egregious example of that is the fact that the NFL, thanks to its newfound 10% stake in ESPN, is profiting from gambling on NFL games thanks to the existence of ESPN bet.
Of course, that’s all going on behind the scenes. Brady’s hypocrisy was put on live television for the world to see, and now, Bayless believes that the best course of action for the seven-time champion is to simply step away from the booth and focus on his franchise instead.
“His duties as a Fox broadcaster allow him, without any connection with the Raiders, to obviously interview all of you the day before he would commentate on your game,” Skip noted.He explained why Brady shouldn’t do dual jobs. “In that session… the players and coaches are going to confide in you… They are going to open up to you… Now, if I’m the Bears, I am shutting up, man. I am closing down… He should just drop the Fox deal. He wants to be an owner and operator of the franchise? Go do that,” Skip observed.
Given the aforementioned nine-figure payday that is tied to his Fox Sports deal, it’s incredibly unlikely that Brady is willing to do that. As a result, the NFL now has to find a way to save itself from this budding PR crisis.
It’s a rather unique situation, as not many players, if any, have ever reached this level of influence. Nevertheless, some sort of guidelines will have to be put in place sooner or later. Otherwise, the shield will risk its own credibility, as well as Brady’s, for the foreseeable future.
