NBC NFL analyst Mike Florio doesn’t believe Tom Brady wants to become the greatest broadcaster ever.

Despite talking the talk, Brady has been inconsistent and probably the worst top analyst on any network this season. And now that the NFL is imposing limits on his weekly preparation after owners approved his minority ownership stake in the Las Vegas Raiders, Florio believes Brady is showing his hand.

In fact, according to the Pro Football Talk analyst, the NFL rumor mill is full of ideas that Brady isn’t as all-in as he says is at Fox. Florio is hearing that teams have even tried to make it easier on Brady in light of those new NFL restrictions, and Brady hasn’t followed their lead.

“There’s an interesting theory that’s making the rounds in league circles, because there had been teams that had said to the league, ‘We want Tom Brady to be involved in the production meetings.’ And through that push and pull … there’s been a sense that maybe Brady doesn’t really want to do it anyway,” Florio explained in an appearance on The Varsity podcast.

“Because you think of how thinly he’s spread, all of the different things that he’s doing, it may not be that he wants to be the absolute best at everything he does. It may be that he wants us to think he’s the absolute best at everything that he does, and he’s doing a lot of different things.”

As a new Raiders part-owner, Brady is prohibited from traveling to opposing team facilities, viewing practice, and criticizing officials. Some have debated whether Brady can succeed in spite of those rules, but they would hamper any color commentator’s ability to learn up on a team and deliver informed perspectives on a broadcast.

But if it’s true that NFL teams are trying to help Brady in order to fight off the NFL and have the GOAT quarterback succeed in his media career and he isn’t taking advantage, that’s another story. It would signal that all of Brady’s harping on practice and preparation since signing his record Fox deal two years ago may not match his current approach.

“Him being an owner and him being a broadcaster, I think it keeps him from being the absolute best he could ever be,” Florio said. “And it always seemed beneath him, like he’s Tom Brady. But regardless, if he wanted to do it, they’re paying him a hell of a lot of money to do it, go forward and do it. I just wonder how many years he actually will continue to do it.”

A decade-long, nearly $400 million pact would be hard to walk away from, but Brady doesn’t need the money. Perhaps he’s realizing he’s juggling one too many balls in retirement and can’t dedicate himself to broadcasting like he hoped.

Brady has been transparent all season, saying that he is a work in progress in the booth and knows he has to get better ahead of calling the Super Bowl in February. But with the season more than halfway over, this is the most pointed sign yet that Brady may be having second thoughts.

[The Varsity Podcast]