Another Insider isn’t Buying the Ben Johnson to the Raiders Hype

A few days ago, most of the NFL seemed to be penciling in Ben Johnson as the next head coach of the Raiders.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport shared some of the strongest reports around Johnson’s candidacy in Las Vegas, but he has not been alone in calling Johnson the front runner for the Raiders head coaching job.

“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,” Rapoport reported on Wednesday.

But on Friday, the narrative around Johnson took a little turn.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter has put a lot of energy this week into criticizing the Raiders, and he was the first to say he’s not buying the rumors around Johnson and the Raiders.

“I know everybody has got Ben Johnson anointed to the Raiders. I’m not in that camp right now. I’m not going to believe it until I see it,” Schefter said on the Pat McAfee Show. “I don’t know where he’s going to. He’s going to have, I think, three realistic options. Why is everyone ignoring Chicago when it comes to Ben Johnson?”

Not long after Schefter’s comments, FOX Sports insider Jordan Schultz (wasn’t he with Bleacher Report just a few hours ago?) chimed in with a similar report.

”I’m not willing to go so far as to say Ben Johnson is the favorite with the Raiders,” Schultz said on FS1’s The Herd. “I know the Raiders really like him. I know that he has multiple options including Jacksonville, which is a really good job, and the Bears.”

That’s two of the top insiders in the industry who downplayed the Raiders chances of getting Johnson on Friday, and there was one more report that popped up a few hours before those.

“A league source says Johnson still has interest in exploring the opportunity in Jacksonville and inquiries are still being made for his staff and personnel template,” league insider Josina Anderson reported at the Bovada website.

Like others in recent days (and months and years), Anderson questioned the stability within the Raiders as an organization and added that she thought Jacksonville was “better suited” for the top coaching candidate in this year’s cycle.

She also isn’t sold on Tom Brady in his new role with the team.

Looking ahead, it could potentially be another three weeks before Johnson makes a decision on his next coaching stop. As long as the Lions are in the playoffs, Johnson can’t make anything official, and it’s worth mentioning that the biggest threat to the Raiders landing their top HC candidate might actually be the teams he is with now.

Would it be a huge surprise if the Lions offered Johnson a massive pay raise after the season to stay in Detroit as their offensive coordinator for another year?

It’s no secret that they are going to try.