3 Lions Making Their Final Playoff Run With Detroit in 2025

2. Ben Johnson, offensive coordinator

Well, let's talk about the elephant in the room since it's staring us right in the face.

We're not just looking at players who could be entering their final playoff runs for Detroit, but coaches as well. There's no question that Ben Johnson is going to be one of the most coveted coaches on the market and should be able to name his price.

Even though coordinators aren't allowed to be interviewing for vacancies just yet, Johnson has already been on the interview cycle a number of times and has withdrawn his name. That has created tremendous demand for his services, especially as the Lions have continued to progress and innovate offensively.

Johnson appears poised to lead his own franchise in 2025 and beyond and there are rumors that teams like the Bears and Jaguars will be willing to give him a blank check, essentially. We'll see what happens, but Johnson could have a strong foundation in either city (albeit income tax-free in Jacksonville, just throwing it out there).

The success of the Lions' offense over the last few years has been well-documented. Jared Goff went from being a complete castoff with the Los Angeles Rams to being a star with the Lions. Detroit had what was considered to be an embarrassment of a wide receiver room going into the 2021 season and they've now got an embarrassment of riches and guys who have been developed from waiver wire pickups to Day 3 picks to 1st-round picks.

Johnson isn't going to have the exact same embarrassment of riches wherever he goes in the NFL but there are jobs available with both quarterbacks and skill players alike who could attract him away from his nice gig in Detroit, where he's helped build something special.

And now, we're getting ready to see him pass it off to the next.