When Tom Brady was a player, there may not have been anyone that Skip Bayless would defend with more passion. But when it comes to Brady’s tenure as a part-owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, it’s a different story. Bayless believes that Brady is massively downplaying his impact, particularly when it comes to the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Las Vegas Raiders had seven chances to select Shedeur Sanders in the 2025 NFL Draft. But much like every other team in the NFL, the organization continually passed on him until the Cleveland Browns mercifully ended his draft slide by taking him in the fifth round.
Naturally, this was a topic of conversation during Brady’s recent appearance on the Impaulsive podcast. But contrary to what Bayless previously claimed in a social media post about Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl champion outlined how he was not involved in the Raiders’ evaluation process.
Bayless still isn’t buying it.
In a video in a video Bayless titled “Tom Brady Lies About Passing On Shedeur” on his YouTube channel, Bayless outlined how Brady perhaps knows Sanders better than anyone, both as a person and as a prospect, considering he was considered a mentor to Sanders dating back to his time in high school.
“So, you might have seen the video I posted last Thursday night, Tom Brady on Jake Paul’s podcast, blasted me for saying that he obviously told Raiders GM John Spytek not to draft Shedeur Sanders,” said Bayless on the most recent edition of The Skip Bayless Show. “That’s my opinion. That’s my take. I know I’m right. So, I fired back at Tom Brady, pointing out that Spytek, his former teammate at Michigan, had said before the draft that the Raiders would be fools not to ask Tom Brady, now Raiders’ owner, about quarterbacks they were considering in the draft.
“Yeah, they would be absolute fools not to ask Tom Brady about quarterbacks. I mean, Brady is the obvious GOAT. How many times have I said that on the airways over the last ten years? Which quarterback was the most debated quarterback in any draft ever? That was Deion’s son, Shedeur, the same quarterback Tom Brady mentored and coached since he was a sophomore in high school. So, Tom Brady wants us to believe that his good friend Spytek, who also was an executive with the Bucs when he was down in Tampa, wouldn’t ask him, as a Raiders owner, one thing about Shedeur? Yeah, right, Tom, and you didn’t fumble on that Tuck rule play and maybe cost Al Davis a Super Bowl.
“Come on, man. Nobody knew more about Shedeur than you did, Tom. That’s tangibly and intangibly. He spent so much time around the kid. And let’s just fess up to it. He obviously vetoed that kid to Spytek. I mean, the Raiders passed on Shedeur seven times before Cleveland owner Jimmy Haslam overruled his executive and his coaches and took Shedeur with the 144th overall pick in the fifth round.”
Saying that Brady ultimately “vetoed” Sanders may be a step too far. And ultimately, this is only something that Brady and John Spytek would know happened if it really did.
But Bayless does have a point when you consider Spytek’s past comments on the matter. Unless Spytek was indeed a “fool,” he likely did at the very least hear what Brady thought of Sanders as a person. And ultimately, it seems as if Sanders’ talent ultimately didn’t outweigh the baggage that potentially comes along with bringing in Sanders.