To begin the Las Vegas Raiders' head coaching search, there was very little hope this team could wind up landing a top candidate like Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
The architect behind Detroit's high-flying, league-leading offense is the most-coveted name on the market right now, but the Raiders didn't seem to stand a chance, initially.
And then, Tom Brady got involved.
And then, things changed.
Brady began recruiting Johnson to the Raiders and, just like that, the idea started picking up momentum.
Pretty soon, it started to become a hot prediction. Johnson to the Raiders might actually end up happening.
And then, in a matter of moments, fans' hopes were set to be dashed again in an offseason that has already been a rollercoaster of emotions and rumors. On his latest podcast, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter covered the topic of Johnson and the Raiders and let's just say he isn't exactly sold.
Adam Schefter explained why Ben Johnson to the Raiders isn't a complete slam dunk
It was a pretty easy explanation and a reason why many fans felt, to begin with, that Johnson was a long shot for Las Vegas.
"If he takes the Raiders job, he's now going to a division where the head coaches are Andy Reid, Sean Payton and Jim Harbaugh and the quarterbacks are now Patrick Mahomes, Bo Nix and Justin Herbert," he began.
"And you're going to a team that doesn't even have a quarterback, doesn't have a draft pick to go land a quarterback and has to find a way somehow to get a quarterback. So, good luck with that.
"The Raiders have so much ground to make up, right now, especially in that division. And that, to me, is what they have to overcome here," Schefter concluded.
This is precisely why, even after Brady got heavily involved in recruiting Johnson, it still seemed like a hard sell. Raiders fans know this all too well.
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If the fan base is being realistic, they know what Schefter said is true. There is no clear path to a quarterback, and that's been one of the top criteria for Johnson throughout the entire coaching cycle.
The Raiders have a draft pick that's just outside the range of being able to land Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward. If they had any desire to move up, they're going to have to convince teams with clear quarterback needs at picks no. 1 and no. 2 to try and agree to trade down. There doesn't seem to be any world where the Titans or Browns would do that.
And then, if you look at the free agency pool, is Johnson really going to be fully satisfied to begin his head coaching career with the likes of Sam Darnold, Justin Fields or even having to trade for Kirk Cousins?
All of these quarterback questions and the Raiders are still in an extremely difficult division with experienced coaches and rosters on the rise.
Even though fans saw this idea pick up some steam, Johnson to Las Vegas continues to feel like a pipe dream. Could it still happen? Of course. I wouldn't count Brady out of anything, as a player or an owner.
But, the odds still don't seem to be in the Raiders' favor.