Pete Carroll hasn’t been the head coach of the Raiders for a full day, but there’s already a flood of speculation about who his quarterback is going to be in Las Vegas.
The Raiders don’t have many compelling options at quarterback going into the offseason and Aidan O’Connell figures to be at the top of the QB depth chart when the new league year begins.
With the no. 6 pick in the draft, the Raiders won’t have any guarantees that Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders will be within reach in the draft, and that means Carroll might have to take a swing at a quarterback in free agency or by means of a trade.
If the Raiders go the free agent route for a quarterback, they are expected to take a hard look at Russell Wilson, who is obviously familiar with Carroll from their 10 years together in Seattle.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler joined a list of league insiders to make the Wilson/Carroll connection on Friday afternoon.
”I reached out to a few former Carroll lieutenants in Seattle. Both expect Carroll to be a great fit in Las Vegas, but they also both pointed out, they would not be surprised if Carroll reached out to Russell Wilson, possibly trying to sign the free agent, make amends for what went wrong at the end of that Seattle era,” Fowler said.
“One of them even pointed out that Carroll and Wilson began to rekindle their relationship about a year ago or so,” Fowler added. “Wilson has always been intrigued by wearing the Black & Silver so it could be a back pocket item for later.”
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Wilson wanted to go to Las Vegas a year ago, but the Raiders opted for Gardner Minshew, instead.
Prior to the 2021 season, Wilson’s representatives listed four teams that he would be interested in playing for at the time and the Raiders were on that list, as well.
The Saints, Cowboys and Bears were the others.
x: @raidersbeat
Remember how Wilson did in Denver!
I appreciate what Carroll and Wilson accomplished together in Seattle. Raider fans are buying in that Pete still has the skills to build franchise. Any football fan knows that Russell Wilson does not have the skills he had when the Seahawks won that Superbowl. No disrespect to Russ, age is a bitch and it’s undefeated. That team was built on defense, and running the ball with Marshawn Lynch. Russ played smart and when needed, could make a play. Denver was a hot mess, not all on him, but yeah, he brought attention to himself, then played bad. The last 5 or 6 weeks in Pittsburgh; that was bad. That team needed a leader to step up. Still better than Minshew, but I think we can do better than both of them.
We are a clown show. Brady calling the shots cost us Johnson just so he could hire his college buddy as GM.
Then go out and hire someone for head coach who is way past his prime. Now, there’s talk of bringing on Russell Wilson?
Raiders have become a JOKE.