Going back weeks ago, it felt like a potential head coaching opening he would avoid as he honed in on jobs he might actually want. Then they were one of four teams to put in a request to interview him, said interview was scheduled and they made a move that would appeal to him under a certain assumption the day before the interview.
Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson interviewed with the Las Vegas Raiders on Friday, the second of four head coaching interviews he's doing over the course of two days. The final two, the Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars, are coming on Saturday.
Tom Brady's presence as a minority owner can only help the Raiders' search for a new head coach, and it's clear he has a lot of influence on that search. It's fair to assume a candidate like Johnson might not have interviewed with them without Brady's presence. So Mark Davis taking Brady on as a minority partner is already a win, no matter who they end up hiring.
Raiders are making it clear they really want Ben Johnson
According to fresh reporting from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network on Saturday morning, the Raiders are "one particular team" to keep an eye on for Johnson.
"He has quickly emerged as the candidate to watch for Las Vegas, as the Raiders -- in a search that prominently includes limited partner Tom Brady -- are willing to wait as long as it takes to secure their potential future head coach. Jed Hughes of the firm Korn Ferry is assisting with that search, according to me and NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo."
"Las Vegas is said to be enamored with Johnson, sources say."
Rapoport pointed out how "many around the league" wondered if Johnson would interview with the Raiders, "considering their recent disarray." That's where Brady's presence comes in, however obviously on the surface, as Rapoport provided details.
"Thanks in part to the involvement of Brady, who sources say personally vouched for Johnson and implored him to take the interview through his agent, Johnson spoke with them. Essentially, Brady recruited Johnson to interview."
The Raiders have issues they can never seem to escape from, but they also have an appealing situation in a lot of respects. They have over $107 million in 2025 cap space right now, along with four of the top-73 picks in April's draft (headlined by No. 6 overall). They have a clean slate for a new head coach/general manager tandem. According to Rapoport, Brady (unsurprisingly) had influence on the decisions to fire Antonio Pierce and Tom Telesco to create that clean slate.
Johnson will complete his initial head coaching interviews on Saturday. Where he'll stand regarding the Raiders' job compared to the others is to be determined, but credit to them for doing whatever it takes in their effort to hire him.