Are NFL players OK with Tom Brady’s dual role as an owner and a broadcaster?

This piece is part of  The Athletic’s annual NFL anonymous player survey, covering a range of topics around the league.

Soon, it will be all eyes on Tom Brady — though that isn’t necessarily anything new. Brady was a regular part of January and February football over the first quarter of the century. Now, though, he’ll be the focal point of a different part of the NFL calendar thanks to his role atop football operations for the Las Vegas Raiders, who hold the No. 1 overall pick of April’s draft.

The question The Athletic posed to players across the league: Should Brady be allowed to, essentially, run football operations in Vegas while also serving as the analyst for Fox Sports’ No. 1 booth? That’s in light of the fact that Brady’s role as a broadcaster could give him behind-the-curtain insight into other franchises’ operations.

The response: Let Tom work.

Much of it was out of respect for the greatest quarterback in NFL history.

“I feel like he’s earned the right to do that,” said a defensive player on an AFC team. “He’s respected by a lot of people, with him being one of the greatest to play the game.”

And an NFC offensive player: “He’s the G.O.A.T. Only G.O.A.T.’s can do that type of stuff.”

Many respondents didn’t believe that Brady or the Raiders are likely to gain any kind of significant advantage from his role as a broadcaster.

“I think it’s fine,” said an NFC defensive player. “I think you’ve just got to be careful of the production meetings.”

“Teams just have to be mindful of what you tell him, just like with any broadcaster or reporter,” said another NFC defensive player.

Others believe this season’s 3-14 record proved that Brady and the Raiders absolutely won’t gain any kind of notable advantage from his role as a broadcaster.

Said an AFC defensive player: “If he’s getting information and sharing it with the Raiders, so what? They sucked anyway.”

Or, as an NFC defensive veteran, who seemed a bit agitated by the question, put it: “The Raiders f—ing suck. How is it helping with that? What are we talking about?”

Those who said they didn’t approve of Brady splitting time between the owner’s box and the broadcast booth seemed to prefer a definitive wall between the two roles.

“It’s just a conflict of interest,” said an AFC defensive player who was one of the few who objected to Brady’s double duty. “Even if Tom is being careful, the optics are not good and it could create an ugly situation down the road.”

Added an NFC offensive player who also voted no: “You go sit in these broadcast meetings and you go sit with players. There are guys that are going to be wary of what they’re saying. It’s like, one week, here’s Tom Brady in a production meeting, then there’s the Raiders way down (later on the schedule).

“But also, he’s Tom Brady. He could just watch film and (get) the answers.”

Lloyd Howell stepped down as the NFL Players Association executive director in July amid a cloud of controversy and criticism, creating a leadership void for the union. The search for a new executive director is still ongoing.

With that in mind, we asked players what they thought the top priorities for the next director should be. This was presented as an open question, and respondents were allowed to provide more than one answer. The Athletic grouped answers into a number of categories.

The most common answer was straightforward: mandate grass playing surfaces across the NFL. Below is a sampling of other responses, some of which have been lightly edited.

An AFC offensive player: “There should be a standard that all clubs are held to facility-wise, food-wise. We should be treated no different than international soccer players, where we get to choose our field surface. And the last CBA they signed was really bad.”

An NFC offensive player: “I think practice-squad benefits, practice-squad salary, practice-squad size — I would like to see them treated almost exactly like (players on) the active roster.”

An AFC offensive player: “I guess the big one right now is grass fields versus turf fields. Rookie year, me and another teammate tried to get more benefits for practice-squad players.”

Another AFC offensive player: “I think they have to address how we are getting compensated for some of the sports betting stuff. The bigger that becomes, the more of a negative impact it has on players’ lives.”

An NFC offensive player: “I think the NFL has been doing a good job with player safety. But I think you should reward players with medical benefits that they can carry with them (for life), because they have been putting their life on the line for a long time.”

An NFC defensive player concurred, saying he read a study that said the vast majority of NFL players “have surgery more than five years after retirement (when they no longer have coverage).”

An AFC offensive player: “The 18-game season. It has to be a hard demand: You want an extra game, the players need to ask for a lot. Not just getting rid of weed testing or something like that. More money, and lots of it. The season is too long as it is.”

An NFC defensive player: “Whoever’s in that position for us (needs to be) in a position of confidence about what they have going on holistically as a person. Issue-wise, I’m always thinking about things like expanding the roster and doubling the league minimum.”

An AFC offensive player: “Just communication and openness. I think the fact that there were so many rumors (surrounding Howell) and so many guys worried about who was in charge, it was a problem.”

An NFC offensive player: “I think 50-50 revenue share would fix a lot of things. And then I would try to slow down the foreign games. … Eighteen games, I think, would either have to have two bye weeks or mandatory sits for each player.”