NFL Expert: Tom Brady Didn't Mention Ben Johnson in Lions Game amid Raiders Rumors

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has been consistently connected to the head coach opening of the Las Vegas Raiders, which set the stage for a potential conflict of interest with Raiders minority owner Tom Brady broadcasting the Lions' playoff game Saturday for Fox.

The Hall of Famer handled it by never uttering Johnson's name.

Dan Shanoff of The Athletic noted Brady did not mention Johnson by name a single time during the broadcast. It stood in stark comparison to his comments about Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, but Fox danced around the issue throughout the coverage.

Brady's partner and play-by-play caller Kevin Burkhardt did mention Johnson at times, but the legendary quarterback didn't even do so during pregame coverage.

The approach came after Fox Sports president of programming and production Brad Zager shot down the notion of a conflict of interest when he told Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, "to me, the questioning of someone's integrity to say there is a conflict of interest is ridiculous and that's a shame."

Now that the Washington Commanders eliminated the Lions in Saturday's contest, attention turns to whether Johnson will be the head coach of the Raiders next season.

On Wednesday, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported, "there does seem to be an acknowledgement that Ben Johnson is the leading candidate, and there's a lot of people who think, frankly, he is getting it."

ESPN's Adam Schefter and ESPN's Jeremy Fowler also highlighted the relationship between Johnson and former Lions executive and current Commanders assistant general manager Lance Newmark when reporting Las Vegas was interviewing him for its G.M. position.

Brady is involved in the coaching search but appeared to avoid complicating matters with his approach to the Johnson situation during Saturday's broadcast.

Coincidentally, Shanoff called it his "best performance as a broadcaster" to date, underscoring the progress he has made in his first season holding the position with Fox.

His next task may be helping his current team land the offensive coordinator he didn't even mention Saturday.