Is Tom Brady the reason the Raiders hired Josh McDaniels? “This is part of it”

Josh McDaniels only spent 21 months in Las Vegas, and arguably his biggest disappointment during his time with the Raiders was his failure to bring Tom Brady to the team.

Brady was reportedly scheduled to join the Raiders as a free agent in March, but something changed weeks after the season ended and he decided to retire.

Some have wondered if Brady was the reason the Raiders hired McDaniels in the first place, and sports worldVic Tafur seems to think this is a factor. Tarver also doesn’t think McDaniels was ever the popular coaching candidate he promoted two years ago.

Asked in a Q&A column this week whether McDaniels was hired to lure Brady to the desert, Tarver’s response was…

“That’s part of it, but I blame the national media for telling Davis that McDaniels was popular around the league and was just waiting for the right third chance.”

It’s no secret that Raiders owner Mark Davis has wanted Brady since Jon Gruden reportedly nixed the idea in 2020, but if Brady had been with McDaniels plan, then Derek Carr’s eventual contract extension did him no favors.

The no-trade clause in Carr’s trade allowed him to leave the team without any compensation, and the Raiders were left with few options at quarterback after Brady elected to take his talents to Miami as a stay-at-home parent.

We’ll never know if McDaniels would have been a head coach again if the Raiders hadn’t hired him, but the six-year, $60 million deal he signed with the Raiders is undoubtedly the biggest since Davis took over the team. One of those bad decisions. 2011 team.

Looking forward, Davis is in a similar position now as he was two years ago. He has a hot interim coach competing against a long list of outside coaching candidates.

Will he stick with Antonio Pierce or go with another popular name outside the building?

It’s safe to say…the aforementioned Tom Brady will likely play a role in this decision as well.

Twitter: @raidersbeat