Washington Commanders reporter Lake Lewis Jr. made a revelation on his podcast that sheds new light into the team’s decision to not hire Ben Johnson.
Johnson was heavily linked to the Commanders’ job, in addition to other open roles, in the offseason. However, things transpired in such a way that he stayed with the Lions in 2024.
Ben Johnson’s Insistence on Playing Sam Howell Was a Dealbreaker
Lewis talked about the Commanders courting Johnson and the story of how their front office made the decision to look elsewhere after discovering one sticking point in their virtual interview.
That one point of contention led to Washington passing on a coordinator who was already a very coveted head coaching candidate in the last hiring cycle, and who’s only gained more luster following the Lions’ unprecedented success offensively in 2024.
“I don’t know if it’s been talked about publicly. But the story that I got (of) what happened was, they were en route – Adam Peters and them were en route to Detroit for the interview.”
#Lions OC Ben Johnson wanted former #Commanders QB Sam Howell to be the team’s QB in which GM Adam Peters told Johnson that he was drafting a QB, via @LakeLewisJr.
Adam Peters made the decision to turn the plane around, cancelling the interview
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(🎥:@Rio_Robinson91) pic.twitter.com/AbFMfhVR33
— brandon (@JayDanielsMVP) January 14, 2025
“In conversation with Ben Johnson, it was brought up that Ben Johnson still wanted Sam Howell. That’s the quarterback he wanted for his offense. And you know there’s a Carolina connection and all that stuff.
“And Adam Peters was like ‘No!’ and they know who they’re going to draft. We all knew who they were going to draft. And he didn’t want him. So if anybody should be upset, it should be Jayden (Daniels).”
Lewis added that Peters, the then newly appointed general manager, made the decision to turn their plane around from its trip to Detroit.
The idea of Daniels, who finished with a No. 9 rating (85.3) and B grade in PFN’s regular-season QB+ metric playing in an offense schemed up by the unpredictable brilliance of Johnson is enough to make a ton of Commanders fans start considering some what-ifs.
Johnson has shown over the past three seasons that he’s capable of pulling rabbits out of the hat schematically. With a dynamic dual-threat quarterback like Daniels spearheading his offense, NFL fans could possibly have been treated to some unseen play packages.
However, Johnson has to feel good about his decision to stay in Detroit. His offense, which finished with a No. 1 ranking (94.4) and A grade in PFN’s Offense + metric during the regular season, unlocked new levels this year by being the first in league history to have two 1,000-yard receivers and two 1,000-yard running backs in the same season.
If Detroit can break the jinx and win its first NFL title since 1957, Peters will certainly have a few moments of regret about his decision.