Insider Shares Simple Reason to Question the Optimism around Ben Johnson and the Raiders

Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson might be the most popular head coaching candidate in this year’s hiring cycle and as of the last 24 hours, the Raiders are said to be one of the teams to watch to get him.

In fact, an NFL Network report on Saturday stopped just short of describing the Raiders as the front runner to hire Johnson.

“While the coaching world can invite all sorts of craziness, sources say there is one particular team to keep an eye on for Johnson: the Las Vegas Raiders,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport in the wake of Johnson’s interview with the Raiders.

“He has quickly emerged as the candidate to watch for Las Vegas, as the Raiders — in a search that prominently includes limited partner Tom Brady — are willing to wait as long as it takes to secure their potential future head coach… Las Vegas is said to be enamored with Johnson, sources say.”

Later, Rapoport went on television to say Tom Brady has been working hard to recruit Johnson to Las Vegas.

”The presence of Tom Brady has loomed incredibly large,” Rapoport added. “Brady actually spent about an hour with his agent just talking things over, essentially recruiting Ben Johnson, giving him an idea of what Las Vegas would be like. My understanding is the organization is enamored with Ben Johnson.”

As of now, all signs are pointing to the situation between Johnson and Vegas moving in a positive direction, but there is at least one reason to still have a little skepticism.

As NFL insider Josina Anderson pointed out, it was predictable that there would be significant buzz around one of the teams to interview Johnson at the start of the interview cycle.

“Pay attention to the order of Ben Johnson’s interviews, and think about how leverage is best constructed,” Anderson posted on X on Saturday. “The idea is to make the team you’re most interested in, the most anxious. These coaching hires are two-way decisions; thus organizations have to convince top coaching prospects just as much.”

No one is denying the mutual interest between Johnson and the Raiders, and that dynamic has every reason to grow in the days ahead. But as the process plays out, it’s worth keeping in mind that from a negotiating standpoint, it serves Johnson well to amplify his interest in a team like the Raiders.

Based on a Boston Globe report on Saturday, it sounds like Mike Vrabel is far and away the front runner to be the New England Patriots’ next head coach, so it’s starting to feel like Johnson and Pete Carroll are the most likely coaches to end up in Las Vegas.

Earlier in the week, the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vinny Bonsignore hyped up Carroll’s chances of getting the job, and the former Super Bowl winning coach will reportedly interview in Las Vegas on Monday.

“A lot of momentum is building for Pete Carroll,” Bonsignore posted on X on Friday. “In many ways, he is exactly what they need right now. Likely with a protégée/successor that comes on board with him.”

Aside from the aforementioned coaches, the Raiders have been reported to have interest in at least five other candidates. Among those are Brian Flores, Aaron Glenn, Todd Monken, Robert Saleh and Steve Spagnuolo.

Monken was mentioned by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler as a “sleeper” candidate for the Raiders, and Flores has the New England connection with Brady.

Safe to say, there are still a lot of moving parts in the Raiders’ head coaching search, and it could be another week before they figure out the direction they are going to go.

x: @raidersbeat