The Raiders didn’t simply forget to interview Mike Vrabel before he landed with the Patriots.

Vrabel told his former Patriots teammate Tom Brady — who owns a minority stake in the Raiders — that he probably was going to end up back in New England, according to an NFL Network report.

That explains why the Raiders didn’t seriously pursue Vrabel for their vacancy, while the Jets and Bears both interviewed Vrabel. Time wasted for both teams, apparently, and maybe a way for Vrabel to create leverage and force the Patriots to act quickly.

“The most-rumored landing spot for Mike Vrabel for months was with the Las Vegas Raiders considering that they have his old friend and teammate Tom Brady now there as the minority owner and, in fact, running their current head coaching search,” insider Tom Pelissero said. “My understanding is the Raiders never requested an interview or tried to bring Mike Vrabel in because Vrabel essentially told Tom Brady, ‘I’m going  to end up going back to New England.’”

While everyone ᴀssumed that Vrabel would return to New England, where he won three Super Bowls as a player, as soon as Patriots owner Robert Kraft fired another favorite son (Jerod Mayo) in the hours after the regular-season finale, it still is icky if Vrabel was openly treating his landing spot as a formality.

Because of the Rooney Rule, the Patriots had to interview two minority candidates before making a hire even if they had zeroed in on Vrabel.

Former NFL offensive coordinators Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich — both of whom are out of the league and thus available for immediate in-person interviews — were interviewed.

NFL Network also reported that Brady is personally recruiting Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.

Johnson’s work with quarterback Jared Goff makes him one of the most desirable candidates for all vacancies, but the Raiders don’t have a franchise quarterback in place, which would seem to be a strike against them in Johnson’s eyes.

At least until the G.O.A.T. quarterback targets you.