The Raiders are considered by most to be the front runner to hire Ben Johnson, but among the doubters that the Lions offensive coordinator will choose Las Vegas is the NFL’s most prominent insider.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, there are still other teams in the mix for Johnson and he isn’t ready to rule out the Chicago Bears.
“I know everybody has got Ben Johnson anointed to the Raiders. I’m not in that camp right now. I’m not going to believe it until I see it,” Schefter said on the Pat McAfee Show. “I don’t know where he’s going to. He’s going to have, I think, three realistic options. Why is everyone ignoring Chicago when it comes to Ben Johnson?”
Schefter went on to say he didn’t understand why Johnson would turn down the Washington Commanders job a year ago, only to take the Raiders job now.
The answer to Schefter’s question is probably fairly simple.
A year ago, no one knew the Commanders were going to be where they are today. There’s a perception that everyone knew Jayden Daniels was going to have a great rookie season, and that wasn’t the case. The Commanders situation wasn’t a lot different than the New England Patriots in 2023. This year, the Patriots have an outstanding rookie quarterback, and they still have the no. 1 pick in the draft.
The Raiders don’t look to be in a great spot going into 2025, but there’s no reason they can’t turn the tables the way the Commanders did a year ago.
Ultimately, it seems Schefter just has a worse perception of the Raiders than a few others. It hasn’t been good in Las Vegas, but Schefter doesn’t see any hope for the team in the next year.
“I don’t mean to be a pessimist. I don’t believe that is possible. I just don’t believe it,” Schefter said. “Jayden Daniels is one of these generational quarterbacks. You’re not finding that guy in the draft this year and you don’t even have the draft pick to do it.””>Schefter said on his podcast this week. “Jayden Daniels is one of these generational quarterbacks. You’re not finding that guy in the draft this year and you don’t even have the draft pick to do it.”
One way or another, answers around Johnson and his future as a head coach are coming soon.
Until the Lions lose in the playoffs, the league’s most coveted coordinator can’t sign with another team and, for now, he has at least one skeptic that he’s going to end up in Las Vegas.
x: @raidersbeat
What the hell do you care where Ben Johnson goes Shefter!? Oh yeah, your a Broncos fan. You worked for the Broncos back in the day. You don’t want to see the Raiders succeed, you want to keep them down and out, your even willing to pull some strings to keep them down and out. Well, if that don’t piss Raider Nation off then I don’t know what will!! I was not a fan of Tom Brady after that tuck rule BS but I can learn to love him if he can pull this off and make it work. GO RAIDERS!! SIGN BEN JOHNSON!!!
Adam schefter is a punk, he’s just a Raider hater!