The Chicago Bears appear to be losing out on the bid to land Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. The Las Vegas Raiders have suddenly popped as the leader in the chase to land the 38-year-old offensive mind.
Johnson interviewed with the Bears virtually on Saturday. He appears to be high, if not the top candidate for general manager Ryan Poles in this hiring cycle. However, the structure of Chicago’s organization might not be as appealing as Las Vegas to Johnson after the Raiders fired general manager Tom Telesco last week.
Raiders minority owner Tom Brady could be doing the Bears a favor by wooing Johnson away from Chicago.
Per Washington Commanders’ insider Lake Lewis Jr., Johnson, as a candidate, told Commanders general manager Adam Peters that he wanted quarterback Sam Howell to run his offense in Washington. More troubling, Johnson wasn’t a fan of Jayden Daniels.
Ben Johnson didn’t want Jayden Daniels
Peters decided to pull the plug on Johnson after that conversation.
“The story that I got, what happened was they were en route, Adam Peters and them were en route to Detroit for the interview in conversation with Ben Johnson,” Lewis said on Rambling with Rio Robinson. “It was brought up that Ben Johnson still wanted Sam Howell. That’s who he wanted to be his quarterback for his offense. And you know, there’s Carolina connections, all that stuff.
“And Adam Peters was like, ‘No,’ because they know who they’re going to draft, and we all knew who they were going to draft, and he didn’t want him (Daniels)…So what I’m saying is kudos to Adam Peters for holding his guns and saying, ‘No, we know who we’re drafting, and that’s who you’re going to have to build with.’ And that’s the story that I got. It was Adam Peters just said turn that plane around.”
#Lions OC Ben Johnson wanted former #Commanders QB Sam Howell to be the team’s QB in which GM Adam Peters told Johnson that he was drafting a QB, via @LakeLewisJr.
Adam Peters made the decision to turn the plane around, cancelling the interview
😳😳😳
(🎥:@Rio_Robinson91) pic.twitter.com/AbFMfhVR33
— brandon (@JayDanielsMVP) January 14, 2025
The Chicago Bears might have caught a break
© Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK
The Commanders wound up trading Howell to the Seattle Seahawks. Daniels and head coach Dan Quinn have engineered a remarkable turnaround in 2024.
Daniels is expected to win NFL Rookie of the Year. The Commanders are set to play the Lions in the divisional round on Saturday night at Ford Field.
Lewis’ report makes one wonder if Johnson is ready to be an NFL head coach, and if he has the judgment to make correct evaluations on personnel.
Johnson has done well with the talent he’s inherited in Detroit. But that might be all he’s suited for.
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