Who Should I Start? Tom Brady or Derek Carr

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.

Saturday, May 10, 11:14 AM

The New Orleans Saints announced on Saturday that quarterback Derek Carr (shoulder) is retiring. Carr experienced pain in his right shoulder in March while ramping up his preparation for the 2025 season, and medical scans showed that he was dealing with a labral tear and also had significant degenerative changes to his rotator cuff. Surgery was an option, which would have knocked him out for all of 2025, but there still wasn't a guarantee that he'd return to the same level of strength, function and performance. After discussing with his wife, Heather, Carr has decided to hang up his cleats after 11 seasons in the NFL. In 169 regular-season starts, Carr made four Pro Bowls and threw for 41,245 yards, 257 touchdowns and 112 interceptions, with all but two of his seasons coming with the Raiders. With Carr now out of the picture in the Big Easy, second-round rookie Tyler Shough and Spencer Rattler will battle for the starting gig in training camp.