Tom Brady says he explored the possibility of coming out of retirement and returning to the NFL, adding that the league did not “like that idea very much.”
Brady, who last played in 2022 and is currently a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, emphasized in a recent interview with CNBC that he is “very happily retired.”
But the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback also acknowledged that he asked the league about its rules pertaining to active players holding ownership stakes.
“I actually have inquired, and they don’t like that idea very much,” Brady told CNBC, which published an interview excerpt Thursday. “So I’m going to leave it at that.
“We explored a lot of different things, and I’m very happily retired. Let me just say that, too.”
Brady, who turns 49 in August, would need to divest his ownership stake in the Raiders if he were to pursue a comeback as an NFL player, according to league rules.
A league spokesperson told CNBC that there also “would be salary cap issues” if an active player owned a stake in a team.
A comeback by Brady would not be without precedent in the NFL. Philip Rivers, 44, temporarily came out retirement last season to start three games at quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts after not playing for over four years.
Brady purchased a 5% share of the Raiders in 2024, alongside Knighthead Capital Management co-founder Tom Wagner (5%) and Raiders Hall of Famer Richard Seymour (0.5%). The former New England Patriots star quarterback told CNBC that he has a “strategic advisory role” with the Raiders.
“I’m a minority owner,” he said. “So when you’re that, there’s really no job description. I don’t have really a daily role.”
The topic of an NFL comeback arose during the CNBC interview partly because of Brady’s performance Sunday in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic. Although his team was soundly defeated by Team USA, Brady flashed his trademark passing skills throughout the multigame event.
“I loved being out there playing in the flag game,” Brady said. “I loved not getting hit. I’ve got a lot of really fun things I’m involved in.
“It’s never going to get old throwing passes to incredible athletes on the football field. But if anything, that game reconfirmed to me that I’m very happy in my retirement.”
