Tom Brady’s blunt assessment of the Las Vegas Raiders’ 2025 season is exactly the kind of thing Patriots fans are probably relieved to hear aimed somewhere else.
Since Brady became a minority owner of the Raiders, plenty in New England have wondered why that opportunity never landed with the Patriots instead. Some fans even took issue with Robert Kraft not making the offer.
But with Brady now tied to an AFC team that can still end up as competition for the Patriots, the upside of that connection has always been mixed. The Raiders even beat the Patriots in 2025, which only made Brady’s presence sting a little more.
Now, though, Brady has made one thing clear: he is not interested in soft-pedaling disappointment.
On the Stick to Football podcast this past week, the FOX Sports commentator unloaded on the Raiders’ failed 2025 season and set a demanding standard for what comes next.
"I would expect a lot of improvement from where it's been. Last year, we just underperformed in every area.
And it's everybody's fault. That's the reality.
There's nobody who did a good job. 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. And 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."
That’s about as direct as it gets from an NFL owner, even if Brady’s background as a player helps explain why he’s comfortable speaking that way. He didn’t stop there, either. Brady also spelled out what he expects from the Raiders going forward.
"I would expect daily improvement, and I'd expect hourly improvement. 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."
The Raiders’ first-round pick of quarterback Fernando Mendoza has raised expectations, and Brady’s comments make it obvious those expectations are not just for show. If the team doesn’t take a step forward, the pressure will only build from there.
For Patriots fans, the upside is simple: at least Brady is saying all this about Las Vegas, not Foxboro. He’s still capable of praising New England one moment and sounding distant the next, but that’s easier to live with than hearing him rip into the Patriots the way he just did the Raiders.
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