Less than three weeks before they officially welcome Fernando Mendoza to the family, the Raiders continue to fortify the infrastructure around the quarterback they believe will lead them back to greatness.
Part of which includes adding a veteran quarterback to bridge whatever development time Mendoza needs before taking over the starting job, while also showing the reigning Heisman Trophy winner what it looks like to be an NFL quarterback.
The Raiders made that official on Thursday by signing Kirk Cousins, a 14-year NFL veteran who has played with Washington, Minnesota, and Atlanta. He has a long history playing in offensive schemes similar to the one new Raiders coach Klint Kubiak is bringing to Las Vegas.
In fact, Kubiak and Cousins worked together for three seasons with the Vikings; Kubiak served as the quarterbacks coach for two years and the offensive coordinator for one.
With Kubiak calling the plays for the Vikings in 2021, Cousins threw a career-high 33 touchdown passes against just seven interceptions. He also completed 66.3 percent of his passes for 4,221 yards.
The 37-year-old Cousins played the last two seasons with the Falcons, albeit at a far lesser level then his peak years with the Vikings, while distancing himself from the devastating Achilles injury he suffered in 2023.
The Falcons released Cousins three weeks ago, but only after restructuring his four-year, $180 million contract, signed in 2024, to dramatically reduce the hard-cap ramifications.
On paper, his new contract with the Raiders is worth five years for $172 million, but most of that is just for salary cap purposes. In reality, it’s a one-year deal for $20 million, with the Raiders picking up $1.3 million this year and the Falcons paying him $8.7. The Raiders have also fully guaranteed Cousins a $10 million roster bonus that will kick in in March of 2027.
So essentially, they will pay him $11.3 million for 2026 — but only $1.3 million this year — and then they will revisit things after this season.
From the Raiders’ perspective, Cousins serves multiple purposes, all of which are tied into the development of Mendoza.
The club has been careful in how they articulate their plans for the Indiana national champion, insisting that they will neither rush him or put the weight of the world on his shoulders as an immediate savior.
Whatever decision they face regarding when to hand Mendoza the reins is largely dependent on Mendoza’s readiness and their own ability to support him. They will not hesitate to pump the brakes on him if there is any hesitation in either case.
As general manager John Spytek pointed out at the NFL scouting combine, when young quarterbacks miss the mark, it’s typically the fault of the organization more than the player. The Raiders are determined not to repeat the mistakes so many other teams have over the years, either by rushing a young player who simply isn’t ready, or by throwing them into an impossible situation, and crushing them as a result.
With Cousins in the fold, the Raiders have some insurance in the event Mendoza isn’t quite ready to be a day one starter, or because they have some concerns about the infrastructure around him.
“Ideally, you don’t want him to start day one. You’d love him to be able to learn behind somebody. That’s in a perfect world,” Kubiak said this week at the NFL’s owners meetings. “It doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes they have to play from day one, and it’s our job as a coach to get them ready to go.”
The world Kubiak was referring to significantly improved on Thursday. Provided Cousins is fully healed, even at 37-years-old he should be able to hold down the fort until Mendoza is ready while also providing the Raiders quality level quarterback play.
As importantly, Cousins understanding of Kubiak’s offense, and his experience as a diligent student of the game, can help expedite Mendoza’s learning curve of the system while also being an example for Mendoza to follow.
“I think it does help the player, though, if they can sit behind a mature adult and watch how they run the show.” Kubiak said.