It’s been three years since Las Vegas Raiders acting-owner Mark Davis attempted to bring the ‘Patriots Way’ to Sin City. After 25 miserable weeks of regular season football, Davis elected to swiftly pull the plug on that experiment. Now, Pete Carroll has the opportunity to do what Josh McDaniels couldn’t: replicate his past success as head coach of the Silver and Black.
And just as McDaniels brought the New England Patriots with him to Las Vegas, Carroll may be getting ready to bring the Seattle Seahawks along for the ride to Sin City.
As the Raiders continue their wide-open search for an offensive coordinator, one name sticks out: Darrell Bevell.
Bevell, who served as Seattle’s offensive coordinator from ’11-’17, helped the Seahawks claim their first Super Bowl title in franchise history. After coaching the team to a second Super Bowl appearance, he’d head to the Detroit Lions in 2019 where he molded an up-and-coming offensive mind who would come to be known as somewhat of an offensive guru.
That would be Ben Johnson; the same person Raider Nation hoped would be their club’s next head coach.
The long-time associate of Carroll officially interviewed for the Raiders’ offensive play-calling position on Tuesday. Bevell is considered an early strong-favorite, although the interviewing process hasn’t yet come to an end.
Bevell [potentially] coming to Las Vegas serves as the first step in what might truly be Carroll bringing his old Seahawks team to the Silver and Black. In addition to Bevell, there’s another key piece from Seattle’s past dominance who may very well end up in a Raiders uniform this upcoming season.
Quarterback Russell Wilson.
Getting the band back together: The new-look Pete Carroll led Las Vegas Raiders
There’s too much evidence that supports Russell Wilson and the Raiders being a perfect match.
For one, Wilson wanted to be a part of Las Vegas’ organization last year. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reminded of us of that fact last week. Secondly, Carroll is someone who Wilson constantly keeps in touch with and publicly praises when given the opportunity to do so.
Carroll is also ready to start winning football games immediately. Both he and his general manager John Spytek will look to build a better tomorrow, but they have no intentions of sacrificing the present while doing so.
Add the above information with the fact Bevell was Wilson’s original offensive coordinator in the National Football League, and a Carroll-Wilson reunion seems clear as day–especially considering the 36-year-old quarterback is currently a free agent.
But while the pairing makes all the sense in the world, it’s far from a guarantee.
Although Wilson did desire suiting up for the Raiders in 2024, that was 2024; not 2025. Now, the former Super Bowl champion prefers to stay with the Pittsburgh Steelers moving forward. That doesn’t mean he would be against playing in Las Vegas, but it isn’t his preferred destination anymore.
And just as it’s true there’s no way to promise Pittsburgh will retain Wilson – after all, Steelers active-owner Art Rooney claimed this week that it’s ‘unlikely’ the team will retain both Wilson and Fields this offseason – there’s also no way to promise Wilson is the guy who Carroll and Spytek have their eyes on.
After all, Carroll did elect to end the Russell Wilson era in preference for Geno Smith. Perhaps Smith is the more realistic pairing between the two, should Seattle elect to trade their signal caller this summer.
In any case..
The reunion of Wilson and Carroll does make too much sense to brush off. The NFL-world shouldn’t be considering it a guarantee, however, nor anything particularly close.
As the offseason rolls along, there will be more clarity on the team’s quarterback situation. Perhaps the man under center in Las Vegas will end up being Russell Wilson. Perhaps it will be Wilson’s original replacement, Geno Smith.
Or perhaps Aidan O’Connell will keep the job; a potential outcome Spytek expressed earlier in the week.
*Top Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
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