Who Should I Start? Tom Brady or Sam Darnold

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.

Tuesday, April 29, 4:07 PM

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold will take over 90 percent of the offensive snaps in 2025, according to head coach Mike Macdonald. The Seahawks took former Alabama QB Jalen Milroe in the third round of this year's NFL draft, but not to immediately push Darnold for the starting job. But even if Milroe doesn't overtake Drew Lock for the backup gig, the speedy Milroe should see the field early on in packages designed to take advantage of his elite ground game. There was pre-draft speculation that Milroe could be used in a similar way to Saints utility man Taysom Hill, who Seattle offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak coached last year. Macdonald made it clear that Milroe will only play QB. Darnold earned the right to be Seattle's starter in 2025 after a career year in Minnesota, but it will be difficult to live up to his 2024 numbers with a group of wideouts that aren't nearly as gifted as what Darnold was working with in Minnesota.