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New Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll was noncommittal when asked about the possibility of a Russell Wilson reunion on the AFC West team.
“Right now, it’s so early and we’re just in the midst of trying to find the puzzle pieces, not even putting them together yet,” he said during a discussion with Suzy Shuster and Amy Trask. “So I can’t even say. Free agency hasn’t come yet. … I mean I can guess, but it would just be a guess. But I promise you, if you’re a real competitor, you’re not letting options get away from you. So we’re going to consider every option as a possibility.”
It didn’t take long for speculation to begin regarding Wilson after the Raiders hired Carroll.
Jeff Howe of The Athletic reported Wilson was a name “to watch” as a potential “stopgap while the Raiders develop a long-term answer” after he and his former Seattle Seahawks coach “mended fences.”
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport also pointed out Wilson was interested in going to the Raiders last offseason.
Carroll was the head coach of the Seahawks when the team selected Wilson in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft. The signal-caller spent the first 10 years of his career in Seattle and built a resume that included a Super Bowl ring and nine Pro Bowl appearances.
However, he has not been the same quarterback since during stops on the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers. He went 11-19 as a starter across two seasons in Denver and threw for just 2,482 yards this past season in Pittsburgh.
While Carroll wouldn’t get the same version of Wilson he had in Seattle, he could still be a veteran leader for the team as it looks for a long-term answer at the position. Perhaps the Raiders will select a quarterback in the 2025 NFL draft, which would allow someone like Wilson to be a mentor before eventually handing over the job.
If that is the plan, Carroll didn’t offer many hints with his latest comments.
