The Goat didn't want Uncle Sammy on the Raiders

JR44 wrote:

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 wrote:

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.
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MaroonBells wrote:


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

:heart:

MaroonBells wrote:


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.