After receiving interest from the Carolina Panthers last offseason (and earlier this season), Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is again reportedly drawing the eye of Panthers owner David Tepper, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.
Writes Breer, “A lot of folks internally in Carolina think that owner David Tepper will hand Lions OC Ben Johnson a blank check, but I’m not totally convinced. One thing I’ve heard is that Tepper will be looking to check 10 boxes, rather than one, this time around. And so he may still go hard after Johnson, but it probably won’t be for the same reasons he did a year ago.”
Last month, word got out that the Lions' OC has an asking price of around $15 million per season to leave and coach another team, according to Josina Anderson of CBS Sports:
“I'm told personnel around the league are discussing their awareness that some Owners have been told #Lions OC Ben Johnson's asking price is at least or around $15M/year for a head coach job, per source.”
Johnson interviewed with the Panthers in the offseason before declining a second interview to remain with the Lions. Under Johnson's watch, the Lions' offense took flight in the 2022 NFL season. After averaging just 19.1 points in 2021, the Lions took a leap on that end of the field in 2022 during which they finished the regular season with the sixth highest-scoring attack in the NFL; averaging 26.6 points per game.
This season under Johnson, the Lions have the third most high-powered offense in the NFL – averaging more than 395 yards and 27 points per game.
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