Insiders Reveal Why Jaguars Lost Out on Ben Johnson

The Jacksonville Jaguars didn't land Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, with the star play-caller spurning them and the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday for the Chicago Bears head coaching job.

Despite the Jaguars having heavy interest in Johnson, the Lions' coordinator quickly agreed to terms with the Bears and will not even have a second interview with the Jaguars -- which indicates it wasn't all that tough of a choice for him, and that the Jaguars were far behind the Bears in the pecking order.

Why did Johnson pick the Bears over the Jaguars? According to two insiders at The Athletic, it has a lot to do with general manager Trent Baalke.

"The Jacksonville Jaguars were also interested in Ben Johnson but I'm told the setup wasn't in line with what he was looking for in his first head coaching job," Dianna Russini said.

"If the Jaguars wanted a serious shot at Johnson, they'd have had to move on from (or indicate a willingness to move on from) GM Trent Baalke. They made their choice," Michael Silver said in a follow-up.

The topic of Baalke has been a hot-button issue in Jacksonville since Jaguars owner Shad Khan opted to retain Baalke. Baalke has now survived multiple coach firings in two different tenures as a general manager in his career, and some in coaching circles have expressed reservations about his ability to outlive the head coaches he is paired with.

With that said, Khan entered the process believing that Baalke would not cause a serious issue in the Jaguars' pursuit for a new head coach.

"No, not at all. I think we have a very compelling case on what we can offer the head coach and you know that. I think the players, where we stand on our draft, our salary cap, the city, the bricks and mortar, the facility and our division," Khan said after Doug Pederson's firing.

"It's a very compelling case, but like we did last time, the head coach needs to be comfortable with what we're doing. Our job is to be able to provide them with all the resources they want. So, we'll go through that process, and it's got to work for them.”

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