Tom Brady explored coming out of retirement as owner-player

Tom Brady, who, in addition to his duties in FOX’s lead broadcast booth, is a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, returned to the football field in a competitive capacity for the first time since his retirement in 2023 to participate in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, citing a desire to get his “competitive juices flowing.”

Brady has missed competing so much that, despite his 10-year, $375 million contract with Fox, he explored a potential comeback, he revealed to CNBC’s Alex Sherman.

“I actually have inquired, and they don’t like that idea very much,” Brady told Sherman in an interview. “We explored a lot of different things, and I’m very happily retired. Let me just say that, too.”

However, an NFL spokesperson told CNBC that in order to un-retire, the four-time Super Bowl champion would need to cede all his ownership stake in the Raiders, due to a 2023 policy that prevents players or team employees from having equity in a franchise.

“In addition, there would be salary cap issues involving a player/owner,” the spokesperson said.

It’s not the first time a potential conflict of interest has arisen from Brady’s stake with the Raiders, which sees him assist Las Vegas’ front office with coaching and personnel decisions in a “strategic advisory role.”

In Brady’s first season in Fox’s lead broadcast booth, the NFL prohibited him from participating in production meetings with coaches and teams due to his equity in the franchise, although the restrictions were lifted for his second season in the booth.

For his part, Tom Brady seems committed both to Fox and advising Las Vegas, even at the cost of pursuing his eighth Super Bowl ring as a player, saying after his flag football debut that “if anything, that game reconfirmed to me that I’m very happy in my retirement.”