Pete Carroll does not sound like a man willing to trade Russell Wilson away and rebuild.
Carroll did a radio spot with 710 ESPN in Seattle on Monday, and expressed belief that Wilson, who has struggled this season after returning from a broken finger, will ultimately recapture his former form.
“The quarterback position with Russ having to deal with what he’s dealt with, which most players could not have handled the way he did, we’ve got to see how he bounces back,” Carroll said. “He will certainly be great again. He’s going to be a great player. I don’t feel like it shows right now, but I think that’s what’s going to happen because he’s got it in him to do that. So we build around those factors and all of the pluses that we can generate.”
The Seahawks are 5-10 this season, last in the NFC West.
Asked about a rebuild, Carroll said there are zero reasons he thinks that would be the best course of action for the Seahawks now.
“Not for one reason at all am I thinking that we have to restart this whole thing and create a new philosophy and a new approach and all that. I don’t think that,” Carroll said. “I think we’ve got the essence of the things that we need. We’ve got to build on them, we’ve got to support it better, and we’ve got to continue to grow and progress. There’s no standing still, but there’s the foundation for doing things.”
With the caveat that nothing a football authority figure says publicly is ever written in stone, it stands to reason why Carroll in particular would not be gung ho about a rebuild — he’s 70 years old, and does not have several seasons to wait around for the seeds of draft picks to turn into fruit-bearing trees.
Thus, the only hope for teams like the Giants, who would surely yearn for Russell Wilson to somehow come available, is if the Seahawks opt for a total rebuild that includes not just parting ways with their quarterback, but also their head coach.