Early NFL offseason chatter

[CarolinaLivin]

https://x.com/ThomasWrrld/status/1879297978311364802?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1879297978311364802|twgr^2f6631eef21afd21377de57eb81e08858b5c241f|twcon^s1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fnfl%2Fpanthers%2Fnews%2F2024-final-pff-rankings-panthers-players

[Mr. Scot]

Hadn't considered this as a factor but it does kinda make sense...

Don't think anybody doubts that Johnson and Dan Campbell have a great relationship.

Edited January 15, 2025 by Mr. Scot

[Mr. Scot]

Some won't like this

 

[Jon Snow]

28 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Some won't like this

 

I'm not worried about us going up against a Steve Wilks defense. Nothing against him personally. 

[scpanther22]

Cant wait to see which team overpays Darnold lol

[CarolinaLivin]

1 minute ago, Jon Snow said:

I'm not worried about us going up against a Steve Wilks defense. Nothing against him personally. 

I didn’t realize raheem morris wasn’t calling defensive plays 

[Jon Snow]

Just now, CarolinaLivin said:

I didn’t realize raheem morris wasn’t calling defensive plays 

Neither did I. 

[CarolinaLivin]

2 minutes ago, Jon Snow said:

Neither did I. 

I swear that hire continues to make zero sense to me, but im all for it

[tukafan21]

I'm surprised Ewers is entering the draft instead of getting a huge NIL payday to transfer somewhere else next year.

I'd have to imagine he'd pull in a few million as a transfer, which basically would be how much he'd get on a full mid round pick rookie contract, while also maybe having a good season and working his way into a higher draft pick.

[Mr. Scot]

Lots of chatter on this topic...

Also lots of effort to paste this link.

(took about ten tries)

 

[Mr. Scot]

From the article:

Starting last Thursday, the talk started to intensify of Johnson to the Raiders. Coincidentally, or not, that was the same day the Raiders fired G.M. Tom Telesco, clearing a path for the “alignment” that Johnson has prioritized with the front office.

Not that Johnson would ask for Telesco or anyone else to be fired. If a team really wants Johnson, however, it needs to hear the clues and act accordingly. If the Raiders, as it seems, want Johnson, they have acted accordingly.

Johnson, we’ve heard, emerged from his Raiders interview with positive feelings about the team and minority owner Tom Brady — who has taken a major role in the ongoing search for a new coach.

...

Most recently, we’ve caught wind of a rumor that the Raiders have made a “massive” contract offer to Johnson. While it’s premature for offers to officially be made, given that they’ve yet to conduct a face-to-face interview with Johnson, the talk is out there that a big number is unofficially out there.

Whether it’s credible or not remains to be seen. Owner Mark Davis isn’t exactly in the upper echelon of cash-rich NFL owners. With recent buyouts to the likes of Jon Gruden, Josh McDaniels, Dave Ziegler, Antonio Pierce, and Telesco, piggy banks might need to be busted open to blow the entry-level curve on Johnson.

A “massive” deal also would ruffle feathers among the other owners, some of whom are obsessed with staving off a bidding wars for coaches, where there’s no salary cap and no franchise tag and the market could easily go haywire.

...

But it’s more than money for Johnson. If he works for the Raiders, he has access to Brady. Regardless of the niceties of the rules, there’s also talk that they’ve spent plenty of time talking on the phone.

They’re allowed to converse within the confines of Brady’s job with Fox. Although he can’t attend production meetings, Brady is allowed to talk to coaches and players about the games he’ll be working. And he’ll be working the Lions game this weekend.

...

There’s currently no other destination that fits. Johnson has interviewed with the Raiders, Bears, Jaguars, and Patriots. The alignment he wants doesn’t exist in Jacksonville, and likely isn’t in play with the Bears. Unless the Cowboys (who blew their window to interview Johnson at any time before the Lions’ season ends because they didn’t interview him via Zoom last week) make a late run, it’s the Raiders or the status quo for Johnson.

More and more people in league circles believe it will be the Raiders

[Mr. Scot]

Saw someone make a comment about the Bears having 20 head coach candidates. Thought they were joking...

They weren't

Some are still at the "interview requested" stage and obviously Vrabel is out, but wow

Per Jonathan Jones, the Jets are at sixteen so far.

[tukafan21]

3 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

From the article:

Starting last Thursday, the talk started to intensify of Johnson to the Raiders. Coincidentally, or not, that was the same day the Raiders fired G.M. Tom Telesco, clearing a path for the “alignment” that Johnson has prioritized with the front office.

Not that Johnson would ask for Telesco or anyone else to be fired. If a team really wants Johnson, however, it needs to hear the clues and act accordingly. If the Raiders, as it seems, want Johnson, they have acted accordingly.

Johnson, we’ve heard, emerged from his Raiders interview with positive feelings about the team and minority owner Tom Brady — who has taken a major role in the ongoing search for a new coach.

...

Most recently, we’ve caught wind of a rumor that the Raiders have made a “massive” contract offer to Johnson. While it’s premature for offers to officially be made, given that they’ve yet to conduct a face-to-face interview with Johnson, the talk is out there that a big number is unofficially out there.

Whether it’s credible or not remains to be seen. Owner Mark Davis isn’t exactly in the upper echelon of cash-rich NFL owners. With recent buyouts to the likes of Jon Gruden, Josh McDaniels, Dave Ziegler, Antonio Pierce, and Telesco, piggy banks might need to be busted open to blow the entry-level curve on Johnson.

A “massive” deal also would ruffle feathers among the other owners, some of whom are obsessed with staving off a bidding wars for coaches, where there’s no salary cap and no franchise tag and the market could easily go haywire.

...

But it’s more than money for Johnson. If he works for the Raiders, he has access to Brady. Regardless of the niceties of the rules, there’s also talk that they’ve spent plenty of time talking on the phone.

They’re allowed to converse within the confines of Brady’s job with Fox. Although he can’t attend production meetings, Brady is allowed to talk to coaches and players about the games he’ll be working. And he’ll be working the Lions game this weekend.

...

There’s currently no other destination that fits. Johnson has interviewed with the Raiders, Bears, Jaguars, and Patriots. The alignment he wants doesn’t exist in Jacksonville, and likely isn’t in play with the Bears. Unless the Cowboys (who blew their window to interview Johnson at any time before the Lions’ season ends because they didn’t interview him via Zoom last week) make a late run, it’s the Raiders or the status quo for Johnson.

More and more people in league circles believe it will be the Raiders

For as much as the Raiders don't make any sense for Ben Johnson, I kinda get it if he's being sold by Brady on "I'm Tom Brady, you know I'm going to find a way to succeed, we know we're a mess, come join me and a new GM and we're going to build it up right so you know your job is secure for a while at the same time"

If that's what they're selling him, it probably gives him at minimum 3 years as HC, if not 4, no matter how badly it goes during that time, because they're selling him on letting him build up the team from the ground up how he sees fit.

In today's coaching landscape, for a 38 year old first time HC, getting that kind of assurance and having Brady in your corner, probably is quite appealing.

[PNW_PantherMan]

I bet Ben Johnson stays again