Ben Johnson power rankings: Which team satisfies all of Lions OC’s wishlist?

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is once again one of the hottest names on the NFL coaching carousel. For two years he has turned down jobs, seemingly Carolina in 2023 and Washington in 2024, because he looking for the right opportunity.

Johnson has made it clear on multiple occasions that he is looking for organizational alignment for the football staff of a potential landing spot, especially between the general manager and himself. SI's Albert Breer even said he thought Johnson might want to bring his own GM. Another criterion, Breer noted, was a recognition by the organization of what has gone wrong and a willingness to fix it. And last May Johnson talked about prioritizing his prospects of a second contract with a team and having security before making a move.

With the New England Patriots knocking over the first domino by hiring Mike Vrabel and the Dallas Cowboys moving on from Mike McCarthy, things are starting to officially kick-off for the 2025 coaching cycle. There are six coaching vacancies currently, so let's rank them based on this wishlist that Johnson is working off of.

1. Dallas Cowboys

This will either be the best job, or the worst job, depending on who you ask. But being the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys has everything Johnson is looking for. Only two or two-and-a-half jobs on our list come with an open GM position, and we'll get to those. But in Dallas, you only have one person to align with: Jerry Jones. Owner and GM, Jones can be a tricky personality to work with — but he's just one person. In every other case, a head coach has to work with a GM and an owner. Meaning twice as many ideas and opinions to work through. In Dallas, there's just one.

There's also real job security when it comes to Dallas. Mike McCarthy was just the coach for five seasons. Before him, Jason Garrett had nine. Johnson should get time to see through any plans he has for the franchise.

The franchise is also starting in a very strong place — so there's not too much to build. The Cowboys won seven games last year with Dak Prescott playing in just eight of them and Micah Parsons only 13. Before that, this was a 12-win team every year.

The one question though is from one of Johnson's other requirements. Does Dallas know what has gone wrong with their team, and are they willing to fix it? The number one thing for Dallas today is not being a franchise that drags its feet on things. Like this coaching decision — for example. Waiting until other teams have interviewed and hired candidates to move on from McCarthy, less than a year after paying top of the market for their best players because they waited so long, seems like a regular issue.

If Ben Johnson is aligned with Jerry Jones in terms of a football future for this franchise, Dallas is the best choice for the Lions OC.

2. New Orleans Saints

These next two spots were the trickiest to rank but the New Orleans Saints are here at two. Organizationally the Saints are tough both because of how they handle their salary cap, but also who is in charge of the salary cap.

Mickey Loomis is the executive VP and GM of the Saints and has been in that role since 2013. Before then he was the GM going back to 2002. In that time the team has had just three head coaches. Loomis is also involved with the New Orleans Pelicans who are owned by the same family as the Saints.

All that is to say that Loomis isn't necessarily a football guy. If he were willing to take a step back in some of the football personnel operations and the team could hire a true GM that Johnson could sign off on this could be a very attractive job to him. The team has a built roster, which may change some because of cap reasons, but there are pieces. They've proven a willingness to spend on the roster, and they play in an NFC South that doesn't have a clear-cut team at the top to go through.

If Johnson gets his own GM this is a roster with a solid foundation for a stable ownership group that probably misses having their one coach for 15 years. Plus Johnson has a small connection through Dan Campbell who spent five years with the organization.

3. Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders have made wave upon wave when it comes to their higher-ups over the last year. Tom Brady is in the ownership group, they waited an extra day to fire Antonio Pierce, and another day on top of that to fire Tom Telesco. Nevertheless, this is a team with an opening at head coach and general manager, and the best quarterback of all time has a prominent seat at the table.

The two main downsides here are job security and the division they play in — the Raiders play in the same division as Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs who are trying to win their third straight Super Bowl. Not ideal.

On the job security front, the last time the Raiders had a coach for four full seasons was with Jon Gruden. The first time. Then they traded him to the team that beat them in the Super Bowl that year. Since then it's been a constant cycle of coach firings.

While the roster isn't very good there are foundational pieces you can either build with or cash in on by trading. If Johnson takes this job it's because he believes in what Brady is going to build now that he's involved and because the open GM job means Johnson can choose who he wants to work with.

4. Jacksonville Jaguars

From here the jobs aren't great. Jacksonville has nice qualities. Trevor Lawrence still has untapped potential Johnson could bring out. The defensive roster has good pieces and Brian Thomas Jr. had an excellent rookie season. But there is one major downside to this job: Trent Baalke.

GM Trent Baalke survived yet another head coach firing and remains with the Jaguars. Owner Shahid Khan said the new head coach will report to him, not Baalke. This is probably better for coaching candidates to hear than they are reporting to Baalke because it indicates they have their own sense of security from Baalke. But in the meantime, the head coach and general manager probably will not be on the same page.

5. Chicago Bears

Worse than what Jacksonville is doing — which is more of a misguided idea of coach-GM alignment, is what the Bears are doing. Chairman George McCaskey said he doesn't believe alignment between the two is important.

So that's not great.

Even if you could put that away for a minute, the situation in Chicago's front office is clearly not viable for Johnson. Ryan Poles is deep in his tenure as GM, so the team is very clearly executing his vision. But the team also has Kevin Warren as its president and CEO overseeing Poles ... it's all very strange. And not a situation someone looking for their own power/voice to be recognized should go to.

6. New York Jets

Last and least is the New York Jets. Owner Woody Johnson is simply not someone a candidate like Johnson would want to work for. Johnson fired former Head Coach Robert Saleh and former GM Joe Douglas mid-season ... at separate points of the year. Nothing about this franchise says "organizational alignment" or "willing to hear and fix mistakes." So they're out.