The Buccaneers are not the only NFL team adversely affected by Tom Brady’s retirement.
The Las Vegas Raiders, who benched longtime starter Derek Carr at the end of the regular season, were “absolutely” counting on Brady being available in the offseason, a source told Pro Football Talk. And now, they could pivot to another future Hall of Fame quarterback: Aaron Rodgers.
The same source predicted to PFT that Las Vegas would change course and instead choose to pursue Rodgers in a trade with the Packers. And Davante Adams — whom the Packers traded to the Raiders a year earlier — seems to hope that would be the case.
When asked on Twitter “which neighborhood” Rodgers is moving to, Adams responded in a quote tweet: “Mine.”
A Rodgers trade would require a number of things to go right for the Raiders before it happened. First, the Packers would need to decide to trade the 39-year-old quarterback — if he chooses not to retire. Rodgers will also likely have a say in where he ends up, and may prefer the Jets, who just hired ex-Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.
All the Raiders would have needed to do to sign Brady — who was a free agent — was pay him. Brady likely would have had a baseline interest in joining Josh McDaniels, his former offensive coordinator with the Patriots who is now the head coach in Vegas.
For Rodgers, it’s not nearly that simple. For one, the Raiders would likely have to send at least one premium draft pick to Green Bay for him. (Some reporters had speculated that the Packers wanted two first-rounders, though The Post’s Brian Costello reported that people around the league found that unrealistic.)
Additionally, Rodgers is already under contract for significantly more than Brady would have commanded; he is due almost $60 million in 2023, and any team that trades for him would need to fit that salary under their books. Perhaps the Packers could be convinced to eat some of that money, but that condition would only steepen the trade price.
The Raiders can move on from Carr easily in 2023 after unceremoniously benching him for Jarrett Stidham in Week 17, as he has no guaranteed money left on his contract. One wonders, however, if the team would have been so swift in their decision had they known Brady would be retiring in the offseason.
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