During Tom Brady’s stint as a broadcaster, the NFL imposed considerable restrictions. Since the future Hall of Fame quarterback is now a part-owner of the Raiders, he is not permitted to speak at practices, travel to club facilities, or conduct onsite interview prep with coaches prior to broadcast assignments.However, a loophole may influence the Raiders’ coaching hunt.
Brady will be in Detroit for FOX’s divisional-round game (Commanders-Lions), and he would get a chance to both thoroughly analyse Ben Johnson (and Lions DC Aaron Glenn) and continue conversing with a coach who appears to be — at this point, at least — the Raiders’ early favourite.
According to Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Raiders-Johnson momentum is developing. Johnson is clearly the leader in this situation, and he is “seriously considering” the Raiders, according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic. Charles Robinson of Yahoo.com predicted that Johnson will end up in Vegas. While Mark Davis is technically the organization’s leader, it is widely assumed that Brady is in charge of the team’s HC and GM search.
A newspaper referred to this search as “Tom’s show,” and Tafur adds that the minority owner was substantially involved in the choices to remove Antonio Pierce and Tom Telesco last week. Telesco was ultimately fired because the Raiders preferred to start over rather than pairing a new coach with a holdover GM.
It is unusual for a part-owner to have this much power in such large-scale searches, but Brady’s standing in the game makes him an exception. The presence of the 47-year-old executive is thought to have prompted Johnson to include the Raiders on his interview list. The Lions’ offensive coordinator has been cautious about jobs since first joining a coaching carousel in 2023, and he famously backed out as the Commanders’ leader last season. Johnson’s willingness to take a Raiders position despite the lack of a quarterback presence, as well as Davis’ lack of patience with coaches in recent years, speaks much about Brady’s recruiting abilities.
Las Vegas may be considering a Detroit-centric strategy, with Tafur mentioning that Commanders assistant GM Lance Newmark is considered to have an early advantage in the hunt for the GM position. This would be an interesting development, given that Newmark has yet to receive an interview request. The interviewees thus far include Packers executive Jon-Eric Sullivan, Steelers aide Sheldon White, and ex-Brady Michigan teammate John Spytek, who is now the Buccaneers’ assistant general manager. Spytek had early momentum as a contender to watch; Newmark gaining ground would be noteworthy given his past.
Newmark spent more than 20 years as a Detroit executive before moving to Washington in 2024. That certainly includes the time Johnson has spent with the team, and Tafur adds that the Raiders see Newmark as a staff member who may work well with the 38-year-old play-caller. Brady started evaluating Johnson when he conducted a Week 9 Lions-Packers broadcast, Tafur said.
This is definitely an odd manner for a franchise to obtain information on a candidate, and it raises questions about Brady’s FOX role in terms of objectivity. Given Johnson’s momentum with the Raiders, the recurring Brady conflict-of-interest storyline will continue Saturday.
Johnson is still in the running for the Bears and Jaguars jobs, and while it is unclear whether the teams consider him a favourite, Mike Vrabel’s departure from the carousel puts Johnson as the most promising option based on history and the Lions’ dominating season on offence. The Jaguars are thought to be quite intrigued. Johnson is unable to conduct any second interviews until the Lions have a Super Bowl bye week or are eliminated earlier.
Johnson’s decision to leave the Commanders’ search and join the Raiders would be a borderline coup for Brady, adding even more excitement to a division that has seen excellent coaching talent join Andy Reid in recent seasons. Johnson would be joining Sean Payton and Jim Harbaugh in the AFC West. The Raiders still have interviews to go through, and Johnson’s record should serve as a reminder that this is far from over. However, making so much noise about the situation at this early stage is certainly interesting.
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