Pete Carroll hire could set up the most awkward QB pairing for the Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders officially hired Pete Carroll as their next head coach on Friday.

It comes as no surprise that the first head coaching search under Tom Brady's (minority) ownership results in the signing of a coach with an estensive track record of success at the highest levels of competition. Carroll is one of the few all-time great coaches to win both a Super Bowl and a college football championship.

Carroll arrives in Las Vegas on a three-year contract with a fourth-year option. At 73, he is the oldest head coach in the NFL by seven years. That presents a strange dichotomy, as he's joining a young team ostensibly at the front end of a rebuild. The Raiders won four games last season and don't have an established quarterback on the roster.

Las Vegas has a lot of work to get this roster up to speed for Carroll, who probably doesn't want to waste time "rebuilding." The Raiders don't make this hire unless the plan is for a quick turnaround, with Carroll's peerless defensive pedigree sure to excite the likes of Maxx Crosby. There is not a void of talent on the Raiders roster, but Brady, new GM John Spytek, and the Las Vegas front office must work diligently to flesh it out.

How the Raiders handle to quarterback conundrum will be especially interesting. One obvious reunion stands out among the possible solutions.

Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson could reunite with desperate Raiders

Hey, look! As fate would have it, Russell Wilson's free agency aligns with Pete Carroll's return to coaching. The former Seattle Seahawks tandem didn't always get along, of course, but Wilson was been extremely complementary of Carroll since departing the PNW.

According to Jeff Howe of The Athletic, Wilson is indeed a name to watch as the Raiders look to address their mediocre quarterback room.

As for the mended fences, we must harken back to when Wilson quite literally asked the Seahawks to fire Carroll. Before his trade to Denver in 2022, Wilson allegedly contacted Seattle's ownership group and requested Carroll's dismissal.

Then, in 2023, Carroll stepped down from his post with the Seahawks. Russ promptly flew to San Diego to celebrate with Carroll and reminisce about good times. The veteran QB's tune changed rather dramatically as he waxed poetic about Carroll's impact on his career.

"I just wanted to celebrate him, because I thought that he gave me so much," Wilson said on the I AM ATHLETE podcast (h/t King5 News). "In the midst of everybody talking all this noise about me and Pete, we've always forever been connected. He was texting me throughout the season [in Denver] and everything else and letting me know, 'Hey I still believe in you' this and that 'Keep going' this and that, and vice versa."

Las Vegas owns the No. 6 overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, which puts them out of reach of Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders in a class with two first-round quarterbacks. So, absent a dependable rookie option and unsatisfied with their current QB depth chart, the Raiders' only real option is a short-term stopgap in free agency. Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins stand out as other high-profile vets expected to become available, but Wilson's longstanding connection to Carroll makes the dots a little too easy to connect.

If the Pittsburgh Steelers opt to go in a different direction, as they should, it's kind of hard to imagine Wilson ending up anywhere else. He has been connected to the Raiders before. The Carroll factor almost seals the deal.