Geno Smith was viewed as one of the biggest busts in recent NFL history when he made his move to the Seattle Seahawks to be Russell Wilson’s backup in 2020. But then, he got his second chance. Wilson departed in 2022, and Smith became the starter. He earned his first Pro Bowl and the Comeback Player of the Year Award that year.
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After a couple more solid seasons in the Pacific Northwest, Smith hit the open market this offseason. He didn’t have to wait long to find a suitor. The coach who gave him that second chance back in 2020, Pete Carroll, is returning to the sideline as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders in 2025. He brought Smith back into his orbit on a two-year, $75 million deal that includes $66.5 million guaranteed.
Carroll was a big part of bringing Smith to Sin City. But, Raiders minority owner Tom Brady also played a significant role. Smith said that Brady being part of the organization in Vegas was a big reason why he wanted to join the Raiders.
“It’s Tom Brady. It’s a guy that I’ve idolized and looked up to, and I believe he does things the right way, and I think that’s something I wanted to take from just watching his game from afar.”
Smith revealed that he has already met with Brady privately. But it wasn’t just any meeting: Brady brought his team’s new QB to his house and spent an hour with him. After that chat, Smith believes they “align” well.
“I got a chance to talk to him, went to his home, and spent about an hour and just talked ball with him and talked life. You understand why he is who he is immediately. He takes everything extremely seriously, he’s a diligent worker and he believes in hard work. I think we align that way.”
The introductory chat was nice. But what Smith really wants is to “be a sponge” around Brady. He wants to soak up any and all wisdom about football, health, and life that he can from the Greatest Of All-Time.
“I want to be a sponge. I want to soak up as much knowledge as I can from him. I want to learn as much as I can from him, the greatest quarterback to play the game. There’s so much you can learn. I think the main thing is that I’m here to win, I’m here to do the right things, just as he did.”
Upon reaching Reddit, Smith’s words prompted some criticism of Brady. One Reddit user who’s listed as a Baltimore Ravens fan said, “For all of the great things Tom Brady did in his career, mentoring another quarterback was not one of them. A lot of guys passed through New England and most of them never became anything at all.” It was an insane critique of the greatest to ever do it.
Thankfully, the rest of the users commenting on the post saw that truth too. One pointed out that, with Tom Brady on the roster, the Patriots were not drafting any quality QBs behind him: “The highest pick he ever had a chance to mentor was Jimmy G, who did pretty well for a late 2nd round pick. Most of them were late picks we just picked up hoping to hold as a backup for a few years and then flip for a pick.”
Another noted that Brady’s attitude towards other QBs has probably changed since the ultra-competitive signal-caller is now an owner and no longer competing against those other QBs in the NFL: “Brady also does not seem like the kind of guy who would want to actively train his replacement. Now that he’s out of the league, that attitude might have changed a bit.”
While none of Brady’s backups became superstars, it is true that more than a few of them became solid NFL players, as another Redditor noted: “A good amount of them became OK journeyman QBs though. Brian Hoyer, Jacoby Brissett, Jimmy G, Matt Cassel. Not sure how instrumental he was in them learning anything, but for where the Patriots drafted them, they got good results.”
At the end of the day, the main point here was crystallized perfectly in the final comment of this thread: “Why would Brady ever mentor a quarterback? He was one of the best quarterbacks in the league until he retired, and the Bucs QB room behind him was garbage who was he gonna mentor over there? Kyle Trask?”
It’s unclear how much help Geno Smith will get from Tom Brady, but he already has Pete Carroll, who knows how to get the most out of him, on the sidelines. Ideally that should do it for the quarterback. Still, the 34-year-old will want to pick Brady’s brain whenever possible.
