The Las Vegas Raiders went into this offseason knowing exactly one thing: they needed to get a new starting quarterback no matter what. What is making that difficult is the team having the sixth overall pick, possibly putting both Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders out of the running for their selection.
We won’t know if that’s the case until April, but with Tom Brady taking more of a decision-making role as part owner, the team is being aggressive in getting a signal-caller before the draft even comes around. That aggression almost backfired, though, as Brady toed the line of tampering while pursuing Matthew Stafford. Stafford ultimately ended up staying with the Los Angeles Rams, but not before Brady made a pitch to get him to come to the Raiders.
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NFL denies that Tom Brady tampered with Matthew Stafford
The way in which he did it, though, put him at risk of committing a penalty. Brady hosted Stafford at his home in Montana, which would otherwise be considered tampering if the Rams had not given Stafford permission to speak with other teams. But they did.
Brian McCarthy, the chief NFL spokesman, apparently told Pro Football Talk on Thursday that there was no foul play on the part of Brady. According to him, “there’s no issue here as the club gave permission“.
If found guilty of tampering, the franchise could have been fined a hefty amount or even had draft picks taken away. The owners could have pulled out a check for the fine, but losing draft capital would have been costly for a rebuilding team.
