Ben Johnson has opening to sell plan to team that should still accommodate him

We've known going back about two months that Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson would be "intentional" with how he did head coaching interviews in this hiring cycle. It's no surprise he has some criteria for those interviews, under the general umbrella of wanting "organizational alignment."

On Monday morning, the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots reportedly submitted requests to interview Johnson for their head coaching openings. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero has further reported Johnson will interview for both jobs this week with the Lions on a bye, as a sign he has real interest in them.

There has been a lot of buzz attaching Johnson to a certain AFC team, on the easy assumption they would do a full house-cleaning by firing their head coach and general manager on "Black Monday."

Then the Jacksonville Jaguars fired head coach Doug Pederson, but not general manager Trent Baalke. It was certainly inexplicable to not fire Baalke too, especially with the idea it will impact Jacksonville's ability to court top head coaching candidates like Johnson, and maybe Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.

The Jaguars have put in requests to interview Johnson and Glenn. As Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer plainly put it, "we'll see if they take the interviews."

Breer previously indicated Johnson may only interview with the Bears and Patriots.

The Jaguars have announced the interview requests they've made as of late Tuesday morning, including Johnson and Glenn.

Ben Johnson can still sell his plan to the Jaguars, if he wants to

With Baalke remaining in place as general manager, Johnson could simply turn down the Jaguars' request to interview him. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk plainly stated it, in the wake of the Jaguars requesting to interview Johnson.

"We’ve heard from multiple sources that Johnson has no interest in taking the Jaguars job unless there’s a new General Manager."

It may seem like Baalke is safe, but Jaguars owner Shad Khan opened the door to a different path on Monday.

With Baalke right there on a Zoom call with reporters, Khan was asked what his response would be if a head coaching candidate wanted to re-evaluate the front office and the general manager.

"My response would be 'how would you improve it'?", Khan said. "And then if it is credible, you wanna do it."

The question was directly regarding Baalke's being fired if a head coaching candidate can offer a reason to do it, so Khan knew (or should have known) the implications of answering it like he did. Maybe he didn't care Baalke was on the call with him.

Johnson has acknowledged he is more prepared for the interview process than he has been previously, seemingly rooted in plans for filling out a coaching staff. It's fair to assume the alignment he seeks would include ideas for a new general manager he could pair with, if a team has an opening. The Bears and Patriots, for what it's worth, don't have a vacancy at general manager as he is apparently taking those interviews.

Johnson could easily propose someone from the Lions' front office as a candidate to join him in Jacksonville as their new general manager. Whoever it might be would certainly be a credible replacement for Baalke, with the roster the Lions have built as all the evidence Khan would need.

Khan may have sent a bat signal to head coaching candidates like Johnson by indicating he can be sold on the idea of firing Baalke. It may be too little, too late, but if Johnson has a broader organizational plan to present in an interview he can present it to the Jaguars. Up to and including a new general manager.

The question is if Johnson wants to present that plan, of course. Beyond "if you want me, fire him", he really shouldn't have to offer reasoning for Baalke to be gone.