The later years of Russell Wilson's NFL career have been rough, although he experienced a bit of a redemptive arc this past year with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The only problem? It was short-lived.
Russell Wilson had a disastrous two years in Denver with the Broncos. The first year he was with the Broncos, Nathaniel Hackett was the head coach and it was an atrocity all-around. Not to mention, Wilson was obviously injured for a lot of the year and wasn't nearly as explosive as a runner or outside of the pocket as we'd grown accustomed to.
In his second year in Denver, Wilson was supposed to have at least some form of a resurgence under future Hall of Fame coach Sean Payton. Payton's offense isn't tailor-made for Wilson, but he vowed to play Wilson's "greatest hits" and that's what we saw. Wilson improved, the Broncos improved, but it still ended poorly and with Russ being benched late in the year for Jarrett Stidham.
After an ugly divorce with the Broncos, Wilson moved on to the Pittsburgh Steelers this past year where he dealt with a calf injury for over two months starting in training camp. Wilson came in for Justin Fields after the first month of the season and seemingly ignited a new fire in the Steelers' offense, until you-know-what hit the fan.
Including the playoffs, the Steelers lost their last five games of the season and seven of their last nine. It was a horrendous ending to the year and left both the Steelers and Wilson with more questions than answers heading into 2025.
That is, until Wilson was given yet another gift from the football gods. Pete Carroll, Wilson's longtime head coach with the Seattle Seahawks, returned to the NFL as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders and it seems like all signs are pointing to Wilson being his starting quarterback in the near future.
Russell Wilson likely to become Raiders starting QB in 2025?
With Russell Wilson looming as a potential fit for the #Raiders, his former OC may enter the fray. https://t.co/DvixKomfjh
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 28, 2025
The Raiders are getting almost the entire band back together in Las Vegas. With Tyler Lockett expected to be a cap casualty in Seattle, perhaps he'll also come join the party.
With Darrell Bevell being targeted as Carroll's OC, it only makes sense that someone like Wilson would come in and run that offense. Wilson still played at a relatively high level this past season but the issues with his game at this point are too much to ignore.
While WIlson could provide a jolt for the Raiders, he takes far too many sacks and is not able to extend plays with his Houdini-like pocket movement like he could in the past. Wilson has been criticized for only being able to hit layups and 3-pointers at this stage of his career, and that feels like a pretty accurate assessment.
But it's still better than what the majority of quarterbacks are providing in today's NFL. Pete Carroll must not be keen on the idea of Aidan O'Connell running the show again in 2025, and perhaps he's not big on the idea of seeing what's out there in the 2025 NFL Draft.
At least with Wilson under center, this team will be fun to talk about. And you never know what can happen when you raise the floor with a head coach in today's NFL...