Ben Johnson brushes aside Tom Brady conflict of interest talk

The Bears' ability to sign Ben Johnson became a real point of debate on Wednesday but the Lions offensive coordinator did seek to clear up one budding concern.
Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson on interviews.mp4
Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson on interviews.mp4 /
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Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Ben Johnson has only met Tom Brady once and only a had a brief talk with him.

Set the conspiracy theories aside—at least for now.

Some would call it a moot point anyway, as there is uncertainty over the Bears' chances of hiring Johnson according to one league insider.

The Bears interviewed Johnson last weekend and a huge concern circulating around the league afterward was how there could be a conflict of interest for Brady working the broadcast for Fox of Saturday night's Lions-Commanders playoff game.

The Raiders are not supposed to have contact with candidates after their first interview was held until his team is eliminated. Las Vegas did interview Johnson but he told reporters at the Lions facility he never talked to Brady, who is a minority owner of the Raiders. He only met Brady long before this hiring process began.

"I know nothing of that nature," Johnson said of the whole conflict theory. "I met him the Packers game, on the field I saw him for a second in pregame. That's the first time I ever met him."

The discussed disadvantage aside for the Bears and Jacksonville, they talked to a candidate well seasoned in doing head coach interviews. Johnson has been highly sought the last two years. He had four interviews last week. Besides the Bears and Raiders, he spoke with the Jaguars and Patriots before they hired Mike Vrabel.

"This go-around I've been a lot more prepared for the types of questions that they've been asking," Johnson told reporters in Detroit Wednesday. "I've also changed by frame of mind a little bit and instead of worrying solely about the offense and what we're doing right here I've been having offseasons and summers to think about big-picture view what a program would look like were I running it.

"I think that way I'm a lot more prepared for the questions that come my way and much more comfortable answering."

Johnson's comments came on a day when the Bears' chances for beating out Las Vegas to sign him were classified as bleak by NBC Sports and Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio.

Speaking on the Bernstein and Harris show on AM-670 The Score, Florio underscored the importance again of alignment between Johnson and the GM. And he said the Raiders situation is more set up for Johnson's liking than the Bears are with Ryan Poles as GM.

"This whole notion of Johnson prioritizing alignment with the front office is code for 'I want to hire my own GM,' " Florio told Dan Bernstein, Marshall Harris and Leila Rahimi. "And what did the Raiders do two days after they fired coach Antonio Pierce? They dumped GM Tom Telesco.

"I think the Raiders recognized 'we want to have a shot at Ben Johnson.' "

Florio said this move by the Raiders is giving Las Vegas the edge on he Bears.

"You got to read the tea leaves, you got to connect the dots, you've got to understand what it's going to take to get him," Florio said. "And I think for the Bears to have even a remote chance at Ben Johnson they're going to have to clear out the front office."

Florio had Bernstein, Harris and Rahimi gasping with this proclamation.

"It's the cover charge to try to get Ben Johnson," Florio added. "You've got to give him a runway to setting things up to exactly how he wants."

Others connected with agents have sounded less certain about all of this. Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer has stressed Johnson has a friendship with Bears senior director of player personnel Jeff King, which could make a difference.

ESPN's Adam Schefter pointed out if Johnson takes the Raiders job, he's going to a division where the head coaches are Sean Payton, Andy Reid and Jim Harbaugh and he'd be going against quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Bo Nix and Justin Herbert.

"And you're going to a team that doesn't even have a quarterback, doesn't have a draft pick to go and get a quarterback and has to find a way somehow to get a quarterback," Schefter said. "So good luck with that."

Actually, the Raiders do have the sixth pick in the draft, so they could find a way then to get a top rookie QB.

They also have the second-most available salary cap cash at $85.76 million of effective space.

It all paints a murky picture of the Bears' chances in the Johnson sweepstakes at best.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.