The Las Vegas Raiders have to be asking themselves one question on Monday after the Chicago Bears hired the 2025 coaching carousel’s top candidate in Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson: Now what?
Las Vegas minority owner Tom Brady spent hours on Zoom with Johnson last weekend, according to The Athletic, but Johnson ended up choosing the Bears after “strongly considering” the Raiders. His decision likely came down to the two teams’ polar opposite situations at the quarterback position. Chicago has Caleb Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner and 2024 first overall draft pick, and the Raiders have veteran journeyman Gardner Minshew, 2023 fourth-round pick Aidan O’Connell and veteran journeyman Desmond Ridder.
Cap space isn’t a problem for the Raiders: their $85.76 million in effective cap space is the second-most in the NFL this offseason behind only the New England Patriots ($112.23 million), per OverTheCap.com. However, their path to acquiring a franchise quarterback and a top head coach candidate could be difficult. The top free agent quarterback this offseason is Sam Darnold, fresh off being sacked an NFL playoff record nine times in the Minnesota Vikings‘ 27-9 wild card round loss at the Los Angeles Rams. After Darnold, there’s a steep drop off in the free agent quarterback market.
Las Vegas has the sixth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft after a 4-13 season in 2024, but there’s only two quarterbacks — Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders — who are universally seen as top-10 or even top-five picks. The two teams at the top of the draft — the Tennessee Titans (first overall) and the Cleveland Browns (second overall) — both need quarterbacks. Following Ward and Sanders, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Texas’ Quinn Ewers, Ole Miss’ Jaxon Dart and Syracuse’s Kyle McCord are the next best options.
The lack of a quarterback is why the NFL’s greatest quarterback, Brady, couldn’t convince Johnson to join him as part of a franchise flush with cap space, draft capital and the chance to have influence over personnel decisions since Las Vegas also has a general manager vacancy. So, who should the Raiders turn to next? Here is who the team has reportedly interviewed since its offseason began:
Completed
- Vance Joseph, Broncos defensive coordinator
- Robert Saleh, former Jets head coach
- Aaron Glenn, Lions defensive coordinator
- Ron Rivera, former Panthers and Commanders head coach
- Pete Carroll, former Seahawks head coach
Interviewing
Like Johnson, Glenn will have his pick of jobs, having been interviewed for every opening except for the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots. It’s reasonable to believe Glenn will end up elsewhere given his options and the same reason Johnson chose the Bears over the Raiders.
Perhaps Monken could make some sense given how Lamar Jackson is poised to win consecutive NFL MVPs in his two years working under him in Baltimore. Former New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh could also be a reasonable hire. He’s interviewed for openings with the Cowboys and the Jacksonville Jaguars but could turn both of those gigs down in order to avoid a dysfunctional front office. That’s something he dealt with when working for the Jets. Having an ability to help pick his general manager could be enough for Saleh to dive back into coaching another franchise without their long-term quarterback in the building.
As Brady himself knows, not much matters in football without having a solid quarterback, so until the Raiders get one, they will be many people’s backup plan instead of a first choice.
Go to Source
Author: Garrett Podell
January 20, 2025 | 7:50 pm
