Tom Brady is a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders -Credit:Getty Images
(Getty Images)
The Las Vegas Raiders finally parted ways with star defensive end Maxx Crosby, trading the five-time All-Star to the Baltimore Ravens for two first-round picks on Saturday.
The Raiders were in talks with several other teams — including the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots — while attempting to extract maximum value for their franchise star.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Las Vegas minority owner Tom Brady — notably frosty toward New England ahead of the Super Bowl — would have never facilitated a move to the Patriots. “‘No way Tom [Brady] was sending Maxx to [Patriots coach Mike] Vrabel,'” Fowler said someone involved with the trade noted.
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Brady and Vrabel were teammates on New England from 2001 to 2008. While the former has gone into ownership and broadcasting, the latter just won the NFL’s Coach of the Year Award in his first year with the Patriots.
Brady was asked who he’s rooting for ahead of the Seattle Seahawks-Patriots Super Bowl, and he told his co-host Jim Gray that he doesn’t “have a dog in the fight in this one.”
Tom Brady and Mike Vrabel spent eight years as teammates
This sparked ire with plenty of his former teammates. That’s bullcrap, Tom. Come on now,” former Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said on WEEI from Radio Row.
“This ain’t political … [The] Raiders ain’t in it … Man, look, at the end of the day, if you’re a ‘Patriot for life,’ you know what it is. Don’t give me that political bullcrap.”
Maxx Crosby spent the first seven yeras of his career with the Raiders
Former All-Pro cornerback Asante Samuel agreed. “Tom Brady, I am highly, I mean highly, disappointed in you not rooting for your ex-teammate, Mike Vrabel, who is about to do something special,” he tweeted: “Tom Brady’s new name ‘Flaw — Brady’.”
In Crosby, Baltimore — an organization that rarely trades draft capital — is getting one of the NFL’s most consistent edge players. The 28-year-old former fourth-round pick has 69.5 sacks in 110 professional games.
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The five-time Pro Bowler and two-time second-team All-Pro has only been to the postseason once in his seven-year career, stuck in an organization with constant upheaval.
New England does enter the offseason with plenty of cap space (just like last year, when they signed the likes of Stefon Diggs, Milton Williams, and Harold Landry). The team may look to enhance its pass rush, which currently consists of Landry, K’Lavon Chaisson, and Anfernee Jennings.
