The Goat didn't want Uncle Sammy on the Raiders

[JR44]

I do know that Carroll reports to the owners. 

Unless you’re related to Carroll I’m pretty sure you don’t know what he is thinking or not.

To think that Brady doesn’t have any input on the roster, especially at the QB position, is asinine.

You're hilarious and so predictable, can't stand to be wrong about anything.   Yes almighty, how crazy for me to think that Carroll at 73 would take on a job where he didn't have 100% final say on his QB.  Guarantee he already had it worked out with Geno before he even took the job.

[JustInTime]

You're hilarious and so predictable, can't stand to be wrong about anything.   Yes almighty, how crazy for me to think that Carroll at 73 would take on a job where he didn't have 100% final say on his QB.  Guarantee he already had it worked out with Geno before he even took the job.

Just curious. You mentioned familiarity with Carroll’s offense. Could you briefly describe what that offensive style Carroll has? (Keep in mind he’s been on the D side his entire career)

Raiders OC is Chip Kelly. So, basically your comical notion that Smith is in Vegas because of his familiarity with what Carroll does on offense is, let’s be kind and say, flawed.

But still, your most ludicrous statement is that Brady has zero input on who is playing QB for Vegas. I would think Mark Davis might have had some conversation with Brady regarding who might be an option for the Raiders at QB. 

As always, logic eludes you.

[StickierBuns]

Tom Brady had as much say in the Raiders QB decision as minority owner of the Dodgers Magic Johnson has on their personnel decisions - none.  Anyone think Pete Carroll was going to agree to coach the Raiders without 100% control over all player personnel.  No way.  The reason why Geno is the QB and not Darnold is because of the relationship Carrol has with Smith, the familiarity with the offense and the type of QB he likes to run his offense which is a game manager and not a gunslinger.  Brady mentored Sanders since he was a kid and tight with the family, the Raiders had 7 chances to draft him, twice in the 4th round, if Brady had any kind of say they wouldn't have spent a 4th on him?  Not sure if that is Brady's ego or just bad reporting, but he has had absolutely nothing to do with the team since Pete came to town.

I think Brady definitely had input, its what you do as a good leader if you're Carroll...gather insight/feedback and then make a decision. Also zero doubt Pete Carroll had the final say. Once it became clear that Seattle was very interested in moving Geno Smith, this was basically a done deal....that's how much Carroll loves Smith. I think your point is it wasn't like Carroll had a 4 hour face to face meeting with Brady to discuss the pros and cons of Sam Darnold or even the QB situation. Its Carroll's show to run, but I'll wager they had at least a discussion pertaining to it. Certainly not looking for any kind of permission or a seal of approval, but more of 'here's what I'm thinking and where we are going at QB' kind of thing.

The better headline would have been, 'Vegas wasn't interested in Uncle Sammy, including Tom Brady'.

[comet52]

Brady didn't want Sam Uncle Sammy?

Well he didn't want to stay married to Giselle either, so let's not pretend he makes nothing but good decisions.

Hey I think I just (sorta) praised Sammy for the first time ever!

[StickierBuns]

Brady didn't want Sam Uncle Sammy?

Well he didn't want to stay married to Giselle either, so let's not pretend he makes nothing but good decisions.

Hey I think I just (sorta) praised Sammy for the first time ever!

lol, I don't think Tom is going to have any issues keeping his bed warm without Giselle.  

There wasn't a big market for Darnold, but one team wanted him very much: Seattle. That's all that's required. Mutual attraction. Without Seattle, I'm not sure where he would have gone. Its not like there was a hard charging 1A team ready to scoop him up after the Seahawks.

---

...all that while KOC's baby QB shines?

[purplefaithful]

I thought Pitt was going to be in on the Sammy sweepstakes...Maybe Darnold was too rich for them vs what they got Rogers for?

I'm too lazy to look it up at this point.

[pattersaur]

Yes, but especially if it's contrasted with a bad year from Darnold. Think about what Sam's career would look like. Crap year, followed by another crap year, then more crap, crap again, more crap, crap again—then with KOC, BOOM! Pro Bowl, 4,000 yards, 35 TDs!—then crap again...all that while KOC's baby QB shines?

I think in league circles this is probably already priced in. What he did with Darnold and Kirk is remarkable. Kirk flopped in ATL and I don’t sense a ton of optimism from “insiders” for Darnold in Seattle either.

Even the most casual of fans will find out all about KO very soon!!

[medaille]

I think what KOC did with Darnold is remarkable. Cousins was pretty much the same under KOC and previous regimes. I don’t see any great elevation of play under KOC for Cousins. You can’t compare post-injury Cousins to KOC or Zimmer Cousins. I think KOC got more wins out of the team than Zimmer got, but the team was at a low point at the end of the Zimmer tenure.

Regarding the Raiders, I don’t think anyone really cares whether they got Geno Smith or Darnold. Neither guy is really a franchise lifter. I don’t think anyone’s got big feels on the matter and there’s beef anywhere. The Raiders aren’t going to onboard Pete Carroll, site unseen, and then have some weird power dynamic about which mid QB to bring in. I think the situation is more about the Seahawks than the Raiders. I think Geno was pressuring the Seahawks to extend him for a longer length of time than the Seahawks were willing to commit to, got miffed when he didn’t get it, and then wanted a fresh start somewhere else and the Raiders just made sense due to his previous relationship with Carroll.

https://seahawkswire.usatoday.com/story/...160786007/

[MaroonBells]

I think what KOC did with Darnold is remarkable.  Cousins was pretty much the same under KOC and previous regimes.  I don’t see any great elevation of play under KOC for Cousins.  You can’t compare post-injury Cousins to KOC or Zimmer Cousins.  I think KOC got more wins out of the team than Zimmer got, but the team was at a low point at the end of the Zimmer tenure.

Regarding the Raiders, I don’t think anyone really cares whether they got Geno Smith or Darnold.  Neither guy is really a franchise lifter.  I don’t think anyone’s got big feels on the matter and there’s beef anywhere.  The Raiders aren’t going to onboard Pete Carroll, site unseen, and then have some weird power dynamic about which mid QB to bring in.  I think the situation is more about the Seahawks than the Raiders.  I think Geno was pressuring the Seahawks to extend him for a longer length of time than the Seahawks were willing to commit to, got miffed when he didn’t get it, and then wanted a fresh start somewhere else and the Raiders just made sense due to his previous relationship with Carroll.

https://seahawkswire.usatoday.com/story/...160786007/

I think there's a pretty big difference in the upsides of 35-year--old Geno Smith and 28-year-old Sam Darnold. Seahawks are obviously putting their chips in on the idea that Darnold learned a few things in Minnesota. If that's true and he plays even remotely like he did in 2024, they have a young(ish) QB they can build around. And it didn't cost them any draft capital. Even the salary isn't bad. His $33M per ranks 18th in the NFL. I'd probably take that shot too.

[StickierBuns]

I think there's a pretty big difference in the upsides of 35-year--old Geno Smith and 28-year-old Sam Darnold. Seahawks are obviously putting their chips in on the idea that Darnold learned a few things in Minnesota. If that's true and he plays even remotely like he did in 2024, they have a young(ish) QB they can build around. And it didn't cost them any draft capital. Even the salary isn't bad. His $33M per ranks 18th in the NFL. I'd probably take that shot too.

Geno Smith has thrown for 105 TDs and almost 20,000 yards in his career....Uncle Sammy has thrown for 98 TDs and 16,383 yards in a lot less games. So yeah, Darnold's upside is definitely what Seattle is banking on. I think they are smart in doing so and letting Geno go. Ol' Pete needs QB competence right now, he's not going to be developing shit....Pete will be 74 years old in September. To your point, its very much a shot worth taking.