When NFL fans tune in to watch the Detroit Lions playoffs in the coming weeks, they’ll likely be in for a first.

There’s more than a good chance they’ll hear an NFL owner providing color commentary on the very coaches he’ll be interviewing for a job.

Since firing head coach Antonio Pierce on Tuesday, the Las Vegas Raiders have done just that allegedly asked for interviews with Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.

Fox will cover the NFC playoffs and the Super Bowl, and Tom Brady — a minority owner of the Raiders — is the color analyst on Fox’s No. 1 broadcast team. As a minority owner, Brady is also expected to be heavily involved in the Raiders’ coaching search, a role that will reportedly include interviewing candidates and advising controlling Raiders owner Mark Davis.

Unless there is an early departure from the Lions or an unexpected restructuring that involves the removal of the $375 million analyst, Fox’s game coverage will have a glaring conflict of interest.

As the No. 1 seed in the NFC, the Lions receive a bye on Wild Card weekend and make their playoff debut in the divisional round. Fox will cover two NFC games this weekend and could avoid the conflict by sending its No. 1 broadcast team of Brady and Kevin Burkhardt to the other NFC game.

Or, given the already compromised decision to continue putting an NFL owner in the broadcast booth, Fox executives could well shrug their shoulders and send Brady to Detroit for the divisional round. If the Lions win in the divisional round, there will be no way out of the conflict as long as Brady is in the locker room.

There is only one NFC Championship game. And there is only one Super Bowl. As long as the Lions advance in the playoffs, Brady will be able to offer analysis of Johnson and Glenn in a role that requires honest criticism.

And therein lies the conflict, which would be twofold. Fans who tune in do so with the expectation that the commentary they hear will be unfettered and unbiased.

How exactly is Brady supposed to do that while Johnson and Glenn are Raiders coaching candidates? What happens if one or both make tactical errors that cost the Lions a playoff game? Will Brady risk relationships with coaching candidates by calling out these mistakes? He could. Or maybe not.

Meanwhile, teams with coaching vacancies other than the Raiders are at a disadvantage. If the Lions are successful and Brady offers blistering criticism of Johnson and Glenn, he will be the only NFL owner with a head coaching vacancy who has the platform to do so in front of an audience of millions. Now imagine Jerry Jones in the same position as Brady, in a scenario where the Cowboys have a head coaching vacancy. It’s not an exact parallel, but the conflict would be the same.

The NFL has added some protections to Brady’s dual role as owner and broadcaster by restricting his access to other teams’ personnel and facilities. But nothing has been done to avoid this conflict, which is now likely to play out at the most important time of the season.