Ben Johnson chose the Bears over the Raiders on Monday and it was something we maybe should have seen coming.
For years, agents have been using the Raiders to leverage money from other teams and it’s fair to wonder if there wasn’t some gamesmanship to Johnson’s reported interest in the Raiders.
League insider David Kaplan reported on Monday evening that Bears owner George McCaskey signed off on a massive contract for Johnson and whether intentional or not, the Raiders played into those negotiations.
For over a week, all the talk around Johnson was how he and Tom Brady hit it off in the interview process and Johnson was essentially a shoo-in to be the next head coach in Las Vegas unless something crazy happened.
There were rumors of the enormous contract Mark Davis was willing to give Johnson, but in the end it all played out like a well-designed leverage maneuver to get money from the Bears.
A separate report that supports the leverage theory came from FOX Sports insider Jordan Schultz.
“From my understanding — and as I mentioned last week — there was never a point when the Raiders were the frontrunners for Ben Johnson,” Schultz reported on X on Monday. “They had an interview that went really well, but Chicago was the early favorite in this process, and they finalized it today.”
The other scenario that could have stalled negotiations between the Raiders and Johnson might have been the matter of the general manager.
It was rumored that Brady and Johnson weren’t in full agreement on the incoming GM, but Las Vegas Review-Journal insider Vinny Bonsignore suggested Johnson was going to get to pick his GM.
It might be worth getting a second opinion on that story, though, because it’s hard to imagine Brady and company would immediately own up to losing Johnson because of a GM squabble.
Bonsignore reported that Johnson simply chose the team with the better quarterback, but nothing has changed in Chicago and Las Vegas in the last 10 days.
There was too much hype around the Raiders and Johnson for the former Lions OC to suddenly wake up and realize Aidan O’Connell was the starting quarterback in Las Vegas.
Whether the Raiders were a pawn in Johnson’s negotiations or they lost him because of dispute over the GM, neither situation would be the most flattering for the organization.
There will be more details to unpack in the days ahead, but these are the two theories around Johnson and his stiff arm of the Raiders that make the most sense for now.
x: @raidersbeat
That’s some bullshit how Johnson did the Raiders
What a dumb thing to say. He did not do anything to the Raiders. They did it to themselves as usual. The man did what anyone would do. He chose the place that paid him the most and had the best QB (even though he is a bust). Besides the fact, Johnson is going to be another Adam Gase type of coach. He will continue the Bears typical run of bad coaches. But to say he did something to the Raiders is just ridiculous.
Mark didn’t pony up the $$. Tom couldn’t reel in the big fish. Neither scenario is a good look. We have become the laughing stock of the NFL. We deserve (d) better!!!
Will Hondo Carpenter ever eat crow for pretending he has all this inside access to the Raiders, but consistently is less accurate than the national guys? If I were Hondo I’d be pissed and embarrassed that his sources are either burning him or don’t high enough in the building to know anything. I’m guessing s combination of both….
Either way, time to stop referring to him as some kind of “insider,” since as far as I’m concerned he’s about as plugged in as a fan blogger.
I agree. I’ve been trying to find a decent Raiders information source, that isn’t on the team payroll like the 920 sht show and Brick house, it ain’t Hondo, what a dupe.
Oh well Becky!! Let him go head all good o/c don’t make good h\c ! So we’ll have to see? True raiders fans know, we don’t want nobody that doesn’t want to be n the nation!! Including players!!
Who cares why Ben Johnson opted for the Bears! Move on for god sake. this sh show is getting pretty old.
Hire a ******* Coach and move on!!! Start putting a real team together before every good player starts asking for a trade!!!!
THIS IS NOT HARD RAIDER NATION. REHIRE JOHN GRUDEN IT WAS A HUGE MISTAKE TO FIRE HIM. AL WOULD HAVE TOLD GOODELL TO GO TAKE A FLYING LEAP, DOES NO ONE REMEMBER AL’S BATTLES WITH PETE ROZELLE🤬 . THEY BULLIED MARK AND HE CAVED, NOW HE HAS JOINED GRUDENS LAWSUIT BECAUSE HE WAS WRONGFULLY CANCELLED BY THE NAZI THEY CALL COMMISSIONER. SHOW SOME FUCKING BALLS OR SELL THE TEAM.
I think the bottom line, the media played a lot of hype in the situation! Regardless, Davis offered a huge amount of $$$!!!
I think Johnson and his agent used the raiders to get more $$$ from Chicago!!! He was never going to LV without a QB!
But, is Williams really the answer in Chicago??? Only time will tell!! Plus, just because your a genius play caller doesn’t mean your a genius head coach!!! Again, not time will tell!!!
Reports say Johnson is an introvert and as a head coach, very questionable!!!!
So enough of the BS and let’s get a fkn coach!!! Jesus Christ!!!