Conventional wisdom leading up to the Chicago Bears hiring Ben Johnson, was that the Las Vegas Raiders were among the clubhouse leaders to land the former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator and prize of this offseason’s head coaching hiring cycle.
Multiple league insiders and reports emerged suggesting strong mutual interest and that the Raiders may have been the team to beat. That is, until Johnson was hired by the Bears two days after the Lions’ NFC Divisional Playoff loss to the Washington Commanders.
Ben Johnson to Raiders reporting was ‘never right’
According to Johnson’s agent, Rick Smith, Johnson never had any interest in the Raiders’ gig.
“Initial gut reaction day one on the Raiders was ‘No go. Okay?” Smith said, during a recent appearance on the 2nd City Gridiron Podcast. “Tom Brady absolutely has an extremely compelling case that gets you to listen. The whole thing ‘Ben to the Raiders… great sources’ and all the other stuff, that was never right.
“Sometimes, going back to my job, things go viral that you’re like ‘I got to put a break on this’ and sometimes things go viral like ‘No, this is good. I like this’ and that viral thing [about the Raiders] was ‘I like this. Let’s just leave that out there.'”
From the sounds of it, Smith took the opportunity to create leverage and the aura of desperation for teams pursuing Johnson, who didn’t even have much interest in taking a conversation with Mark Davis, Brady, and the Raiders brass.
“The Raiders were one of those teams and despite all of that, the Raiders still put a request in. Johnson’s camp wasn’t happy about it,” Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said. “They wind up calling the Raiders and the Raiders basically said we’re going to get you on the phone with Tom Brady. So Tom Brady calls Ben Johnson’s camp… [and] Brady more or less promised to them we’re going to do what it takes to make this a first-class operation…
There is little doubt that general manager Ryan Poles and the Bears prioritized Johnson pretty early on in Chicago’s coaching search, and that that interest was mutual and strong. As for the Raiders, Johnson seems to have used them as leverage at least in part because they refused to accept his lack of interest.
Johnson and the Bears are slated to face off in Las Vegas this season, which should make for some interesting drama in and around that game.
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