Canales hire gives Seahawks increased odds to land Johnson or Macdonald

He's Just Ben...Is he the Seahawks' Ben Johnson though?: Seaside Joe 1790

The Carolina Panthers are hiring former Seahawks assistant coach Dave Canales to be their next head coach, ruling out a significant competition threat for the services of Ben Johnson and Mike Macdonald. The news couldn’t come at a better time for me, as I had to erase something else I was writing on Thursday about how the Seahawks could end up losing out on Johnson simply because the Panthers have developed a reputation under owner David Tepper of overpaying for whatever he wants at the time.

Whether it was paying Matt Rhule too much money, trading up for Bryce Young, giving Teddy Bridgewater $63 million, or trading multiple second round picks for Sam Darnold, Tepper has been a madman.

Finally it seems like someone in the organization must have gotten to him because Canales—who is now paired with former Seahawks executive Dan Morgan as the new GM—is anything but a head coach candidate he had to bid for: The Panthers were the only team that I think even requested an interview with Canales.

Folks, through five head coaching hires of 2024, literally everybody you wanted for the Seahawks remains available…as well as almost everyone you don’t.

The Chargers hired Jim Harbaugh on Wednesday (Sorry, Pete), the Titans hired Brian Callahan, the Raiders hired Antonio Pierce, the Patriots hired Jerod Mayo, and now the Panthers have corralled Canales.

You want a hot shot coordinator like Johnson or Macdonald? Pick your side of the ball and shoot your shot because I’m still fairly certain that the Falcons will hire Bill Belichick, yet another coach Seattle isn’t interested in, leaving only two available jobs on the market right now: The Seahawks and the Moons.

Even if the Moons offer the Moon to their top-ranked candidate, Seattle can do no worse than having the other coordinator available to consider.