Mr. Unlimited in Silver and Black?
Perhaps, if newly minted head coach Pete Carroll has anything to say about it.
Russell Wilson is “one name I’ve heard to watch,” wrote The Athletic’s Jeff Howe about the Raiders’ quarterback need. “[He and Carroll have] mended fences, per source, and Wilson could be a stopgap while the Raiders develop a long-term answer.”
It’s a Super Bowl-winning tandem — albeit, one that hasn’t so much as sniffed the Lombardi Trophy in more than a decade.
Wilson, 36, and Carroll, 72, dueled together at the helm of the Seattle Seahawks from 2012-21.
During that 10-season span, the team went 104-53-1, won a Super Bowl in 2013 and an NFC championship in 2014.
Wilson earned Pro Bowl honors nine times during their run together, but since their split — the quarterback was traded to the Denver Broncos in March 2022 — neither he nor his former head coach have had much in the way of success to write home about.
In the Mile High City, Mr. Unlimited looked more like Mr. Misfit and all was left to be desired; and during his most-recent campaign with the Steelers in 2024, Wilson was just alright until he wasn’t.
Carroll, meanwhile, prior to accepting the head gig in Las Vegas on Friday, had been laying in wait since the end of the 2023 season when Seattle’s brᴀss decided he was no longer fit for the job.
The Seahawks moved on following a second consecutive lackluster 9-8 campaign.
Whatever bad blood spilled at the end of their time together in Seattle seems to have been swept under the rug, and with the Raiders now in full-on rebuild mode — coming off a 4-13 campaign in 2024, their third consecutive losing season — a temporary reunification makes sense.
Wilson is just the right amount of mediocre — he can buy a few games, perhaps even a full season if he has to, as the Raiders sort out their future plans under center.
Whether Carroll and Las Vegas find their man through the draft or free agency remains to be seen, but in Wilson, at least in the interim, they’ll have someone who knows the system.
The Raiders own the sixth pick in April’s draft.
Wilson received just a sliver of attention last offseason before the Steelers signed him to a one-year contract, and he didn’t do all that much to foster confidence during his stint there.
A reunion with his former coach in Sin City probably wouldn’t be all that expensive.
