Ben Johnson's agent confirms that the Bears was his preferred choice, downplays viral reports about Johnson potentially landing with the Raiders
Last week, the Chicago Bears stunned the entire league by moving quick to lock in Ben Johnson as the team's next head coach.The pairing was one of the worst kept secrets, even though the Bears wanted to conduct a thorough process and Johnson was considered a top target by the Las Vegas Raiders and the […]
Last week, the Chicago Bears stunned the entire league by moving quick to lock in Ben Johnson as the team's next head coach.
The pairing was one of the worst kept secrets, even though the Bears wanted to conduct a thorough process and Johnson was considered a top target by the Las Vegas Raiders and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Johnson was a top name in each of the last three cycles but this time added a new agent in Rick Smith to aid in the process of landing a head coaching position.
What made the process of landing on Johnson so odd was how quickly the Bears got the deal done. The Bears only spoke with Johnson one time, during a virtual interview on January 11th. The team did not hold a second interview with any candidates.
Even though the team only met with Johnson once, they still spoke numerous times over the phone with his new agent to resolve any lingering questions about the team. Two days after the Lions' playoff loss, the Bears made things official with Johnson.
Smith revealed on the “2nd City Gridiron" show that Johnson's first choice was the Bears as of that morning, and he wanted to move forward with making a deal. The news stunned the Raiders and Jaguars, especially the Raiders who laid out a strong pitch for Johnson led by minority owner Tom Brady.
Many insiders starting reporting days prior that Johnson was a leading candidate in Las Vegas after meeting with the team. NFL Media's Ian Rapoport even added that many of his sources believed he would land the job with the Raiders.
However, Johnson's agent revealed that wasn't the case.
“Initial gut reaction day one on the Raiders was ‘No go. Okay?” Smith said. “Tom Brady absolutely has an extremely compelling case that gets you to listen. The whole thing ‘Ben to the Raiders… great sources’ and all the other stuff, that was never right.”
Even still, the news blew up and went viral, which for an agent, is great news. Agents in the NFL love having things get leaked, whether accurate or not, because every piece of news can be used as leverage in negotiations. That's exactly what happened with all the Ben Johnson to the Raiders reports.
“Sometimes, going back to my job, things go viral that you’re like ‘I got to put a break on this’ and sometimes things go viral like ‘No, this is good. I like this’ and that viral thing [about the Raiders] was ‘I like this. Let’s just leave that out there.'" Smith added.
When all those rumors were circulating, Smith was probably dancing about his office laughing at the whole thing while Johnson finished up his season with the Lions. Now, it's clear how Johnson felt from the beginning and things still managed to work out for all three teams.
The Bears got their preferred guy in Johnson, the Raiders were able to land a proven winner in Pete Carroll, and the Jaguars convinced another young offensive-mind in Liam Coen sign on in Jacksonville. Time will tell how all three of these hires turn out but it's always great to get these details from people on the inside about these type of ground-breaking decisions around the league.
Reflecting on the Bears’ 2022 head coaching search to see where those candidates are now and what the team did differently in the 2025 search
The team clearly wanted to change the process.
