Tom Brady has officially put the Raiders on blast. The seven-time Super Bowl winner bought a partial stake in the team in October 2024, and during the past 20 months, he hadn't really criticized the organization publicly, but that changed in a big way last week.
During an interview on the "Stick to Football" podcast, Brady ripped the Raiders for their performance last season.
"Last year, we just underperformed in every area and it's everybody's fault," Brady said. "That's the reality."
That only scratched the surface of what Brady had to say about the team.
Brady blames everyone for the Raiders' poor 2025 season
The Raiders had two Pro Bowlers last season in Brock Bowers and Maxx Crosby, but they didn't escape Brady's wrath. The former NFL quarterback said everyone was bad last season.
"There's nobody who did a good job," Brady said. "There's not one player in the organization, there's not anybody involved that did the job to the level that it needs to be done at, and everybody needs to improve."
He's starting to sound like Bill Belichick with criticisms like that. Brady is clearly trying to light a fire under this year's team by throwing last year's team under the bus.
Brady wasn't just blaming the players, though. He also said he has to be better.
"It starts with me, and it filters down to the rest of the players on the field, and they've got to go out there, and ultimately they've got to perform at a high level," Brady said.
Brady's decision-making certainly played a role in how things went last year. The Raiders could have made a play for Sam Darnold in free agency, but they didn't even make an offer because Brady didn't want him. Instead, the Raiders ended up trading for Geno Smith, who lasted exactly one season with the team before being traded to the Jets in March.
Smith went 2-13 as the starter for a Raiders team that finished 3-14, tied for the worst record in the NFL. The Raiders hit rock bottom last year, but after a strong offseason, they look ready to make some noise in 2026.
Brady's expectation for 2026
The Raiders had a busy offseason. Not only did they add two new quarterbacks (Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza), but they also hired a new coach in Klint Kubiak. On top of that, they added several key free agents, including center Tyler Linderbaum and linebackers Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker.
On paper, the team is much more talented than it was last year, and Brady expects that to translate into more wins on the field.
"A massive improvement," Brady said when asked what he expects to see from the team this year.
Brady wouldn't put a number on how many wins would be considered a success, but he did say he wants to see his team win the small battles every day.
"I would expect daily improvement, and I'd expect hourly improvement," Brady said. "I really would. Every day that goes by, when you're on a good team, every day and every week goes by, you should be better. Like, a good team should be better at the end of the season than the beginning of the season or you're not a good team. If you have more time together and more practice and you're getting worse, something's wrong. If you have more time, more practice, you should be getting better."
During his time in New England and Tampa Bay, Brady said his teams would peak at the end of the season, and that's what he wants to see from the Raiders.
"A lot of the teams I played on, the best game we played all season was the last game of the year," Brady said. "That says to me a lot about what the team's all about."
When Brady won his seven Super Bowls, he did it on the field as a player, but now he's not out there. Instead, he has to figure out how to help the team as an owner, which is something that's still new to him.
"Now, I'm involved in the Raiders. Now, how do I recreate the success that I was able to have with even a different team, but in a different role," Brady said.
The Raiders might not win the Super Bowl this year, but they had one of the best offseasons of any team in the NFL, and that's certainly a solid first step toward getting the ship turned in the right direction. However, if they have another ugly season or two, people might start to wonder whether Brady is cut out for this ownership thing.
