Who Should I Start? Tom Brady or Baker Mayfield

Monday, January 13, 7:41 PM

As recently as last week, there was a feeling inside the Las Vegas Raiders' team headquarters that owner Mark Davis would give head coach Antonio Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco another year to figure things out after a 4-13 finish in 2024. However, seven-time Super Bowl-champion Tom Brady, who purchased 5% of the team last October, felt a total reset was needed and persuaded Davis to fire both Pierce and Telesco. "This is Tom's show now," a person with knowledge of the situation said. Davis will make the final call on decisions for the franchise, but Davis wants Brady to have a "huge" voice and has a lot of trust in him. By firing Telesco, the Raiders have made the head-coach job more attractive to potential coaches, and the Raiders are willing to consider a package deal if their top coaching candidates have preferred front-office leaders in mind.

Wednesday, June 11, 4:32 PM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield noted on Tuesday via the team's official transcript that the new offense is focusing on increasing the number of downfield shots during minicamp. "[We're] working on that, being able to connect on the chemistry we're trying to build right now," noted the Oklahoma product. "This is the time of year we're working on it. Obviously, you would love to have more down-the-field shots, but any completion is a good one." Mayfield's gripe with the offense from 2024 was that it relied heavily on YAC, and it sounds like they're trying to go away from that in 2025. It's worth noting that they weren't very efficient on deep balls last season, but they're certainly equipped to do so with their offensive skill players. More explosiveness would suit the offense well, but only time will tell if that's a suitable game plan for new offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard. NFL defenses have done well in recent seasons in limiting explosive plays.