Sean Payton is the right man to get Russell Wilson's career back on track, according to the quarterback's former coach Pete Carroll.
Carroll and Wilson reached two Super Bowls together with the Seattle Seahawks after the latter was drafted in the third round of the 2012 draft.
Wilson earned Pro Bowl honours nine times with the Seahawks and threw two touchdowns as the team beat the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.
But the relationship between Carroll and Wilson reportedly soured in the later years of their time in Seattle, and the quarterback was traded to the Broncos prior to the 2022 season for a haul of picks.
After signing a bumper $245million contract following the trade, Wilson's first year in Denver was one of the worst of his career, throwing a career-low 16 touchdowns as the team limped to a 5-12 record and finished bottom of the AFC West.
Nathaniel Hackett did not make it through a full first season as head coach, but the Broncos made a trade with the New Orleans Saints to bring the sought-after Payton in to replace him.
Payton won a Super Bowl during a successful spell with New Orleans before stepping away at the end of the 2021 season, and Carroll feels he could be the correct coach to get Wilson back to his best.
"I don't think you can come up with a guy better at coaching quarterbacks than Sean," Carroll told reporters. "He's proven that.
"He's had such tremendous success. He's got a great playcaller mentality to him. They're very fortunate to have him."
Reports last week stated Wilson asked for Carroll and Seattle general manager John Schneider to be fired towards the end of his time with the Seahawks.
"My response to that is a similar response to what it's always been with guys I've coached,'' Carroll said.
"I'm always going to hang with them, I'm never going to leave them and I'm going to be there at the end. All of the good stuff, all of the bad stuff, I'm still going to be there.
"[It] doesn't matter who the guy is. Regardless of what had happened, what has taken place, things that have been said. [If] you hang with them, it all comes back around. I'd like to demonstrate that faith in the relationship and the depth of what we did together, and the growth challenges it brings to us along the way."