Based on reports over the last few days, it feels like it’s only a matter of time before Ben Johnson will be the next head coach of the Raiders.
“The people who are associated with the Raiders job, I’m talking other candidates, I’m talking agents, people are the NFL, there does seem to be an acknowledgement that Ben Johnson is the leading candidate [in Las Vegas] and there a lot of people who, frankly, think he is getting it,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Wednesday. “They are not done. They certainly have not done the requirements that would allow them to hire a coach and he’s not even able to be officially hired until after the season. But it does seem like that is the direction that it is headed.”
There haven’t been a lot of specifics shared on the nature of Johnson’s interview with the Raiders, but it has been reported that Tom Brady spent nearly an hour “recruiting” Johnson and his agent on Friday. A separate report said that Johnson came extremely well prepared for his virtual interview.
It sounds like Johnson already has a good idea of who his coordinators are going to be and that’s a big deal considering all the uncertainty around the coordinator positions in Vegas over the last two years.
Still, nothing is final between Johnson and the Raiders until a deal is signed,
What that anticipated deal is going to look like isn’t known, but according to ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio, it has been rumored that Johnson’s agreement with the Raiders is going to be massive.
“Starting last Thursday, the talk started to intensify of Johnson to the Raiders. Coincidentally, or not, that was the same day the Raiders fired G.M. Tom Telesco, clearing a path for the “alignment” that Johnson has prioritized with the front office,” Florio reported on Wednesday. “Not that Johnson would ask for Telesco or anyone else to be fired. If a team really wants Johnson, however, it needs to hear the clues and act accordingly. If the Raiders, as it seems, want Johnson, they have acted accordingly.”
“Most recently, we’ve caught wind of a rumor that the Raiders have made a “massive” contract offer to Johnson. While it’s premature for offers to officially be made, given that they’ve yet to conduct a face-to-face interview with Johnson, the talk is out there that a big number is unofficially out there,” Florio continued.
Florio also added that if the Raiders give Johnson a huge contract, it isn’t likely to set well with his counterparts in NFL ownership.
“A ‘massive deal also would ruffle feathers among the other owners, some of whom are obsessed with staving off a bidding wars for coaches, where there’s no salary cap and no franchise tag and the market could easily go haywire,” Florio said.
Just a guess on this…
Mark Davis probably doesn’t care a lot about what other owners think he should spend on his next head coach. After years of not being able to afford the top players and coaches on the market, it’s a new era of spending in Las Vegas and unlike some NFL owners, Davis isn’t afraid to throw around (and sometimes throw away) money to return the Raiders to being a respected organization again.
x: @raidersbeat
Florio is a pathalogical liar and a Raider hater. The guy needs to just get over it
People are going to be surprised when he becomes the next Adam Gase, Just something about him that says that is going to be how he ends up.