Raiders 2025: General manager or head coach? Exploring which hire comes first

Las Vegas’ GM search kicking into gear

And away they go!

The Las Vegas Raiders general manager search kicked into a higher gear this week as the team requested permission to interview a handful of candidates.

While the head coach search was off and running from the jump, the quest to fill the vacancy at GM started slower but is picking up steam with the Raiders reportedly requested to talk to five candidates. And there’s potentially more requests on the way — for both the GM and head coach vacancies.

In terms of finding someone new to replace Antonio Pierce, there’s growing smoke that Las Vegas’ top candidate is Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.

The 38-year-old is a creative play caller that puts his players in the best possible position to succeed and that young, energetic, and fiery nature is reminiscent of a young offensive mind the Silver & Black hired back in 1998: Jon Gruden. Named head coach at 35 years old, “Chuckie” had the Raiders offense humming in his second year.

Johnson is believed to have the same type of trajectory and play calling acumen to revive a team’s offense. And resuscitating a flatlined offense is something the Raiders are in dire need of. The Chicago Bears are expected to pursue Johnson as hotly as the Raiders have.

Check out what Ian Rapoport had to say on the Raiders’ head coach search:

Johnson is a coveted candidate and if any of the six teams — the Raiders, Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, Jacksonville Jaguars, New Orleans Saints, and New York Jets — who have openings want to make him their head coach, they’ll have to wait until the Lions’ postseason run is over. That could be as short as a divisional round exit this Saturday if Detroit falls to the Washington Commanders. Or it could be as long as a conference championship loss (Jan. 26) or even extended to after Super Bowl LIX (Feb. 9).

Thus, if Johnson is indeed the one deemed by the Raiders, the waiting game commences. Las Vegas still needs to have an in-person interview with Johnson and that can’t happen until after the Lions are ousted from the playoffs.

That doesn’t mean the Silver & Black is sitting on its laurels, however. The search committee — which minority owner Tom Brady is a part of — has slated interviews this week with candidates such as former Jets head coach Robert Saleh and Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.

Yet, the question — general manger or head coach, who is hired first? — remains apt.

While Las Vegas intention for doing a sweep and clear of the front office by firing both Pierce and former GM Tom Telesco was to give the next head coach a clean slate and have both the coach and general manager work in unison, the respective arrivals of new decision makers isn’t likely going to happen at the same time.

While the Raider are reportedly intent on waiting for Johnson as head coach, the team may not have that luxury of patience on the GM front.

Three teams — the Raiders, Jets, and Tennessee Titans — are seeking new GMs and one of the candidates Las Vegas showed interest in — Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant GM John Spytek — is setting up second interviews, reportedly with the Titans and Raiders.

A scenario can play out if the Raiders brain trust deems the combo of Johnson & Spytek to be the pair that leads the team in 2025 and beyond, the GM hire occurs first as the coach of choice is in the thick of chasing a Lombardi Trophy.

Brady and Spytek go back to their Michigan Wolverine days and the latter helped the Bucs land the former. And Spytek was part of the Raiders general manager hiring cycle in 2022, meaning Raiders owner Mark Davis has familiarity with the Bucs’ assistant GM, too.

Yet, with other teams showing interest and pursuing Spytek, Las Vegas has competition and if he’s on the Silver & Black radar, the team may have to make a quicker decision. But, he is one of the five known candidates for the general manager role — the others are Jon-Eric Sullivan (Green Bay Packers vice president of player personnel), Sheldon White (Pittsburgh Steelers director of pro personnel, Brandon Brown (New York Giants assistant GM), and Chad Alexander (Los Angeles Chargers assistant GM) and there may be more by week’s end.

There’s a scenario where the Raiders eventual head coach and general manager arrive at the same time — if Las Vegas doubles up on a Detroit duo. The team could bring Johnson and Lions assistant GM Ray Agnew as the new power couple. As stated above though, that combo arrives post playoff bounce.

Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

I understand the pessimism regarding the Raiders gigs. Along with the reluctance to believe Johnson is considering the role in the desert.

The Silver & Black have been in constant shambles and are facing quite the rebuild — or reloading that Davis was apt to use (sigh) — after waxing the one-and-done combo of Pierce and Telesco. So it’s proper to question how much runway the new regime is going to get.

But the Raiders offer a clean slate unlike other teams in the hiring cycle. The come in, and build it how you see fit is very attractive. And the allure of Brady is well documented at this point. But lets not forget Davis sold 25.5 percent of the team last year (five percent went to Brady) and on-hand liquidity is no longer a concern. Davis has the coin to offer Johnson top dollar.

Will that be enough to woo Johnson?