For the better part of a week, all signs have pointed toward Ben Johnson being the next head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Lions OC and top head coach candidate this cycle interviewed with several teams this past weekend, and word is the Raiders strong offer, along with the presence of minority owner Tom Brady, have him ready to accept the position once the Lions playoff run is done — whenever that might be.
In turn, the Raiders are prepared to wait as long as they need to wait for him — even if that means waiting until after the Super Bowl which is some three weeks away.
Adam Schefter is skeptical the whole thing is set in stone. He’s not ready to slot Ben Johnson to Las Vegas as a sure thing. And has two other teams as still be viable destinations for the hot head coach target.
“I know everybody’s got Ben Johnson anointed to the Raiders. I’m not in that camp right now. I won’t believe it before I see it.” said Schefter, with the discussion being about Jacksonville as a potential destination.
“He’s going to have, I think, three realistic options,” Schefter continued. “But why is everyone ignoring Chicago when it comes to Ben Johnson. Why is that been just dispelled. I don’t get it. What am I missing here?”
McAfee points out that everyone sees the Chicago Bears organization as being pretty bad right now and thus not an attractive destination. Meanwhile the Raiders cleaned house this offseason, including firing Tom Telesco, in order to make the job more attractive for the next head coach.
Schefter continued to explain the reason behind his thinking.
“I know this Raiders freight train has gathered a lot of steam,” he said. “And I don’t want to slow it down because, by the way, for the record, it could happen, he could be the coach there. But I am not convinced just yet that that’s going to be the way its going to be.
“We’re talking about picking situations. If you’re picking the Raiders, you’re telling me that Ben Johnson turned down the chance to coach Jayden Daniels last year so he could go to a place this year in Las Vegas without a top pick, without a quarterback and that plays in a division with Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Bo Nix, Andy Reid, Jim Harbaugh, Sean Payton, does that make sense to you?”
It seems to me that main detail Schefer is missing here is Detroit. That maybe Johnson didn’t turn down a chance to coach the Commanders and is picking the Raiders, but rather he just decided he wanted to have one more shot at a Super Bowl with the Lions, regardless of the teams that wanted to hire him. And now he’s ready. It’s simply a matter of timing.
Also, for what it’s worth, the Commanders didn’t have Jayden Daniels when Johnson would have been hired. He hadn’t been drafted yet.