The Las Vegas Raiders have a well-accomplished list of candidates for their next head coach, with new minority owner Tom Brady aiming to raise the profile of the struggling franchise.
But the Raiders could ultimately bring back a familiar face as their next head coach, one analyst suggests.
The Athletic's Mike Sando broke down the potential candidates for the Raiders' job, noting that Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson could be the top pick. Sander also suggested that former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll could be a strong candidate along with another more unlikely candidate -- Jon Gruden.
Gruden was fired by the Raiders in 2021 after offensive emails surfaced. Sando suggested that Raiders owner Mark Davis could be willing to give Gruden another chance, though acknowledged that it would be a "wild card."
"Davis is not the maverick his legendary father was, so he might be less likely to re-hire Gruden, which would be seen around the NFL as raising a giant middle finger toward the league office," Sando wrote. "This would be among the wildest of the wild-card scenarios for Las Vegas, especially with Brady setting a new course."
The Raiders are coming off a 4-13 season where they struggled to find a steady quarterback, with veteran Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell both missing long stretches due to injury. The Raiders will have the No. 6 draft pick and could have the opportunity to get a new signal-caller in either Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward.
