Raiders turn page on coaching search after losing out to Bears on Ben Johnson

On to Plan B.

The Las Vegas Raiders were legitimate contenders to land the hottest available candidate as their next head coach, but former Detriot Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson decided Monday to join the Chicago Bears instead, according to league sources. Raiders minority owner Tom Brady has been working on Johnson since a pregame chat in early November, but Johnson seemingly preferred quarterback Caleb Williams to the nebulous void at that position in Las Vegas.

Brady and controlling owner Mark Davis could’ve offered Johnson a big contract and input on the general manager decision, but they couldn’t really address the biggest question in the NFL these days: What’s the plan at quarterback?

The Raiders don’t have an answer on the roster. Neither Aidan O’Connell nor Gardner Minshew II is ideally suited to be more than a backup in the NFL. The Raiders could attempt to trade for an upgrade such as Geno Smith of the Seattle Seahawks or Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals, but it’s unclear whether players of that caliber would be available. The veteran options set to hit free agency are similarly unattractive.

While the Raiders have the sixth pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, they’re behind three quarterback-needy teams: the Tennessee Titans (No. 1), the Cleveland Browns (No. 2) and the New York Giants (No. 3). There’s a world in which they could still have a shot to land a top prospect such as Miami’s Cam Ward or Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, but it’s far from a guarantee.

The uncertainty at quarterback was a major factor in Johnson’s decision to head elsewhere, according to league sources. Williams, the No. 1 pick in last year’s draft, had a solid rookie season with the Bears and has the potential to become one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL. That’s something the Raiders simply couldn’t match.

Ben Johnson picked the Bears because of the quarterback.

It’s that simple.

— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) January 20, 2025

Now, the Raiders have to turn to their alternatives, and former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is believed to be the Raiders’ top option, according to league sources.   Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn is also believed to be a strong candidate, but many around the league expect him to wind up with the New Orleans Saints, the team he played for and coached for, or the New York Jets, who he also played for.

Jed Hughes, who the Raiders have contracted from search firm Korn Ferry to help coordinate their GM and head-coach searches, helped place Carroll with the Seahawks in 2010, so there’s plenty of familiarity there. Carroll will turn 74 next season and would be the oldest head coach in NFL history if he returns to the sidelines, but the Super Bowl XLVIII champion has a strong resume and could still have something left in the tank.

Last week, the Raiders interviewed Carroll, former Jets head coach Robert Saleh and former Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera in person. Saleh and Rivera are diverse, so Las Vegas has satisfied the Rooney Rule and is free to hire a head coach.

There are three other candidates who the Raiders have interviewed virtually: Glenn, Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. The Raiders also plan to interview Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken. The Raiders can set up in-person interviews with Glenn, Joseph and Monken, but they’ll have to wait until the Chiefs are eliminated if they want to talk to Spagnuolo again.

Missing out on Johnson could also alter the Raiders’ plans for hiring a general manager. Commanders assistant GM Lance Newmark has ties to Johnson and Glenn and is a legit candidate — he has also interviewed for the Jets’ GM vacancy.

If the Raiders aren’t going to hire Glenn, though, it could make sense to head in another direction. The Raiders had in-person interviews with Giants assistant GM Brandon Brown and Los Angeles Chargers assistant GM Chad Alexander on Monday. They’ve also done virtual interviews with Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant GM John Spytek, Pittsburgh Steelers director of pro personnel Sheldon White and Green Bay Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan.

Spytek was part of the front office that brought Brady to Tampa Bay in 2020 and was his college teammate at Michigan. He’s now believed to be the front-runner at GM, according to league sources.

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Brady played a big role in cultivating Johnson’s interest in the Raiders. According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, Brady and Johnson recently spent hours on a Zoom call to discuss the job. Brady’s pitch to Johnson was multifaceted.

With the Raiders, Johnson would have had the opportunity to be fully aligned with the next GM. Being able to offer that symmetry played a big role in the Raiders’ decision to fire GM Tom Telesco after just one season. The Raiders have interviewed six GM candidates, but their first in-person sit-down was with Newmark on Sunday. Newmark overlapped with Johnson for four seasons in Detroit, so they had a pre-existing relationship and could’ve come to the Raiders as a package deal.

The Raiders were also prepared to make a substantial financial commitment to Johnson. The franchise was once held back by controlling owner Mark Davis’ lack of liquidity, but that’s no longer the case. Silver Lake CEO Egon Durban and Discovery Land Company chairman Michael Meldman, who each bought 7.5 percent of the team last month, and Knighthead Capital co-founder Tom Wagner, Brady’s business partner, made it clear that money wouldn’t be an issue when it came to courting Johnson, according to league sources. That not only would’ve given Johnson additional job security, but it also would’ve allowed him to be more aggressive in building out his coaching staff and making roster moves.

In the end, the Raiders were done in by the uncertainty at quarterback. For whoever they hire as their next GM and head coach, finding a way to remedy that issue must be the top priority.

(Photo: Stephen Maturen / Getty Images)