Insider Report Hints at More to the Story Between Ben Johnson and the Raiders

For over a week, Ben Johnson was the name almost everyone was penciling in as the next head coach of the Raiders, but on Monday something shifted and the only firm reports since he took the Bears’ job have suggested he simply decided to coach Caleb Williams over Aidan O’Connell.

That logic makes sense, but somewhere in the interview process something abruptly changed because some of the best connected insiders in the industry were stunned when the news came out that Johnson was headed to Chicago.

Maybe Johnson woke up Monday and remembered the Raiders’ quarterback situation is one of the worst in the league, but there are signs that point to something bigger impacting his decision.

Sometimes there are details that reporters aren’t able to share and listening to NFL insider Josina Anderson on Tuesday, it seemed like she knows something about the Tom Brady dynamic in Las Vegas that ultimately turned away the team’s top head coaching candidate.

“Just remember that this is the third time, obviously, that Ben Johnson has been down the aisle, and even a league source said this morning that they thought that he was going to jump, just based on their feel of things, and that Ben Johnson really knew that he had to get the situation right,” Anderson reported on Tuesday.

“And that kind of leads me into my conversation relative to the vacancy with the Las Vegas Raiders, because part of the reason why I put out that article, not only from what I was just hearing from sources, but even my own assessment of the situation. When you just take a look at what at least I perceive to be Ben Johnson’s personality and the glare that is going to be on the Raiders team relative to the presence of minority owner Tom Brady, I just thought that that was going to be a lot,” Anderson continued.

“It’s not to obviously say that Tom Brady’s not successful. It’s not to say that Tom Brady, obviously we know he has the knowledge. He’s earned the right to have a major thumbprint on the situation there. But that could also leave people to think, have questions, have concerns. I thought that that would be something that would be a factor. Thus, you know why I wrote what I wrote at the time.”

Now take those comments from Anderson and hold them next to her statement on the situation Johnson signed up for in Chicago.

Despite the fact that Johnson didn’t get to bring his own general manager to Chicago, this quote (below) from Anderson clearly hints that Johnson is going to get more influence over the “big picture” in Chicago than he would have had with the Raiders.

“What I heard about this situation that I find very interesting is that Bears general manager Ryan Poles basically said everything he needed to say in order to make Ben Johnson feel comfortable about the situation. And it’s also my belief that Johnson feels confident enough in what will be his influence over the situation to ensure that he will have success in building the team in his image. So, basically his influence over the big picture, I think that’s the best way for me to word it, and just leave it at that.”

Safe to say, when you read or hear “best way for me to word it” and “just leave it at that” there is more to the story that someone isn’t able to divulge.

In this case, it seems like there is a dynamic developing in Las Vegas that involves Brady that ultimately pushed Johnson to the Bears.

When reports emerged on Monday morning that Johnson and Brady might not be on the same page with the team’s GM situation, it was an immediate red flag.

The Raiders had been in discussions with Johnson for over a week and he didn’t suddenly realize they didn’t have a quarterback on Monday morning.

It’s only a guess, but it feels a little like Johnson woke up on Monday and realized the GM in Las Vegas was probably going to be Brady’s good friend from college and the balance of power was going to be leaning away from the first-year head coach from day one.

The Raiders are continuing their search for a head coach this week and a report on Monday indicated Pete Carroll is the current favorite to get the job.

x: @raidersbeat