With the Washington Commanders win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday night, the Detroit Lions know their opponent for the Divisional Round. It's also going to be in the Saturday night primetime slot (Jan. 18), airing on FOX at 8 p.m. ET.
That means FOX's top broadcast team, with Tom Brady as the color analyst, will be on the game. As we know. Brady is also a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. We also know they are apparently "enamored" with Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson after a first interview with him to be their next head coach. Brady reportedly played a prominent role in getting Johnson to interview.
So naturally, as they tend to do with things that may work against them, some Lions' fans have quickly called out shenanigans regarding Brady calling the Lions' Divisional Round game. Surely the NFL will intervene and tell FOX to replace Brady with, say, Greg Olsen, this week?
But that ignores what Brady already has working against him in his role as a broadcaster.
Related: 5 candidates to replace Ben Johnson as Lions offensive coordinator
Tom Brady would be taking a tremendous risk by tampering with Ben Johnson
It has been pretty well-documented, but here are the restrictions the league has put on Brady in his role for FOX, to avoid issues related to his role with the Raiders.
- Brady cannot enter a team's facility or observe practice.
- Brady cannot attend broadcast production meetings.
- Brady cannot publicly criticize other teams or officials and risks fines or suspensions for doing so.
- Brady is subject to the league's gambling policy.
- Brady would be subject to the NFL's anti-tampering policy and would only be permitted to "strictly social interaction with members of other clubs"
Brady has occasionally toed the line with the third thing on the list, in regard to officiating.
In terms of tampering, Brady was in the headlines for that when the Miami Dolphins were found to have reached out to him before his final season with the New England Patriots (2019) was over. The Dolphins lost a couple draft picks, including their first-rounder in 2023, and they paid $1.5 million in fines.
On "The Pat McAfee Show" Monday, ESPN's Adam Schefter acknowledged the proverbial elephant in the room while also dismissing there being a significant issue.
"Tom Brady is broadcasting the Lions game and that's the way it goes..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 13, 2025
Ben Johnson is a primary head coaching candidate in multiple places including Las Vegas..
I think everybody involved is professional enough to do things the right way" ~ @AdamSchefter #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/RwBO2I9m9n
So Brady knows the consequences of tampering. In this case, the consequences of getting caught would surely impact him very directly. A "strictly social interaction" between he and Johnson could take place on the field before Saturday night's game, but that will be the extent of it between now and kickoff.
So there is no concern about Brady doing anything that would be genuine tampering with Johnson this week, though it's a virtual lock Johnson will have an in-person interview for the Raiders' head coaching job when it's permitted next week.