Insider suggests NFL wants Tom Brady to choose between Fox, Raiders ownership

It was reported back in July that concerns related to Tom Brady serving as both Fox's lead in-game NFL analyst and as a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders were expected to be "resolved" at some point this year.

However, ESPN's Seth Wickersham then shared on Wednesday evening that Brady would have his access to coaches and players before games severely restricted if he is approved as a partial owner of the Raiders as soon as this fall.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio later suggested NFL owners want Brady to "pick a lane" because an individual "can’t be an owner and do the job properly as a broadcaster" for one of the league's main media partners.

"To try to do both, frankly, is more than a little selfish," Florio wrote. "And, even more frankly, these restrictions might be the NFL’s way to send that much-needed message to Brady."

Brady and Fox agreed to a 10-year deal reportedly worth $375M long before the seven-time Super Bowl champion retired from playing "for good" in February 2023. The 47-year-old then spent portions of a "gap year" out of the NFL preparing for Fox assignments that will get underway when he calls the Week 1 matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns on Sept. 8.

Wickersham's update made it clear at least some owners don't want a partial owner of a franchise to have access to their clubs via broadcast production meetings and visits to practices/team facilities commonly completed by announcing crews. At least 24 of 32 owners would have to approve Brady's ownership stake to finalize the transaction.

"At this point, Brady and Fox should want it to be delayed until after the 2024 season," Florio said about TB12's deal with the Raiders. "Why have Brady’s first year complicated by a potential approval of the transaction in October or December?"

Interestingly, media insider Richard Deitsch of The Athletic said as recent ly as last week that he "would bet nearly everything I have that [Brady] won’t complete his 10-year deal with Fox" because the future Hall of Famer has "always struck me as someone with greater ambition than broadcasting."

Meanwhile, Greg Olsen has been linked with a potential future move to NBC amid his demotion to Fox's No. 2 team caused by Brady's arrival. Perhaps Olsen has reasons to believe he could return to Fox's lead crew roughly 12 months from now.