Pete Carroll agreeing to coach Raiders doesn't say anything good about the Cowboys opening

When the 2024 NFL season finally concluded, it was anyone's best guess as to what the Dallas Cowboys would do on the head coaching front. Moving on from Mike McCarthy was the move virtually every Cowboys fan wanted to see happen, but one that also should've already happened. Jerry Jones clearly liked him, so McCarthy sticking around was never ruled out.

Fortunately, the Cowboys did wind up moving on from McCarthy, but they did it late enough that it put them behind their peers when looking for a replacement. Sure enough, most of the desirable candidates landed elsewhere before Dallas' search really got going.

While their search got off to a bit of a shaky start, there was one particularly intriguing candidate still out there — Pete Carroll — who made sense for the Cowboys. Dallas reportedly called Carroll about its opening, but soon after that was reported, the 73-year-old filled the Las Vegas Raiders head coaching vacancy.

Carroll accepting the Raiders job before even really considering the Dallas opening says a lot about where the Cowboys are as a franchise right now.

Pete Carroll coaching Raiders shows how unappealing Cowboys HC opening is

If we're comparing the two openings, it certainly feels as if Dallas' opening is more appealing, right? Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons are three elite players at three premium positions. Prescott and Lamb are locked in long-term, and there's a good chance Parsons will be in Dallas for a long time as well. The Cowboys also happen to have a decent amount of exciting depth on their roster as well.

In addition to that, the Cowboys are in an easier division than the Raiders, play in a fairly weak NFC, and are one of the most storied franchises in NFL history.

But it doesn't seem likr Carroll ever really considered the Dallas opening, electing instead to lead a Raiders team in the most competitive division in football without a quarterback and with a roster that needs talent upgrades virtually everywhere you turn.

Carroll was clearly eager to take virtually any opening available to him to get back onto the sidelines, but if he valued the Cowboys' opening at all, he would've waited. The Cowboys would seemingly check a lot more boxes for the oldest head coach in NFL history, but he chose to avoid working with Jones and instead partner with Tom Brady and Co. out West.

Had, say, the Chicago Bears wanted to interview Carroll for a second time before Carroll had the opportunity to take the Raiders opening, chances are, he would've gone for it when looking at the position their franchise is in. The Cowboys opening doesn't have the same appeal right now.

It's unclear as to how interested Dallas was in Carroll, but they were clearly interested enough to give him a call. Without interviewing in Dallas, Carroll took what looked like the least desirable opening on paper. That, for a Cowboys team that still needs a head coach, is a bad look, and shows how undesirable their opening is.