My reasoning is below.
Quinn is our fallback. The rest of the interviews were informational and to build future connections, similar to some of the combine interviews done with players we have no shot at. Lot of potential coordinator interviews, for instance.
In 2011, we hired OL coach Tom Cable. The year prior, Cable had led the Raiders to what'd be their only decent season in a long time and had dismantled our 2010 squad, destroying them by 30 points. He didn't just beat us - his squad beat us in the style we wanted to beat others in (and WOULD beat others in years later). They ground us into dust.
In 2023, the Baltimore Ravens (to borrow a line from The Breakfast Club) knocked our dicks in the dirt. The pressure came from everywhere. Everything we did was 2 steps behind. We couldn't compete with their speed, their furor, their intensity.
From that moment forward, that was John's guy if the Pete firing came to pass. It did. John knew from that moment forward that he wanted the architect of that absolute tornado of a defense. He saw first hand what they did to us, and proceeded to do to the rest of the NFL.
There is no earthly reason that'd have us waiting this long if Quinn was a foregone conclusion. Quinn would be hired, and we'd have him and John getting a staff together.
Johnson is going to WAS, per reports. Foregone conclusion according to reports. Where does that leave us, unless we secretly covet Aaron Glenn?
It leaves us waiting on Macdonald.
We backchanneled some communications with him through his agent, we came to an agreement that we had deep interest in one another, and we're going to take a long, hard look at each other when we can do it out in the open.
If the vibes sour, we roll with Quinn and Macdonald waits for next year.
That's my take on it. It's Macdonald. Each passing day makes me feel that they're going for Macdonald a bit more strongly.