According to Ian Rapoport, the expectation for the Raiders is for veteran QB Kirk Cousins to start ahead of No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza in 2026.
He says Las Vegas is hoping in a best-case scenario that Mendoza will get a full year of seasoning behind Cousins before taking over. Rapoport notes Cousins was signed in part because of the belief he’d be a great mentor for Mendoza.
Obviously there’s a lot that will have to happen for that to pan out, including Cousins staying healthy and playing well. History says first-round quarterbacks end up playing sooner rather than later, and No. 1 picks usually get the nod from the jump.
Cousins, 37, is a former fourth-round pick of Washington back in 2012. He played out the final year of his rookie contract before being franchised in back-to-back seasons.
Cousins later departed in free agency for a three-year, $84 million contract with the Vikings. He was entering the final year of his contract in 2020 when he agreed to a two-year, $66 million contract extension. In 2021, he agreed to a new one-year, $35 million contract extension that was also fully guaranteed.
He was in the final year of that deal in 2023 and was testing the market as an unrestricted free agent when signing with the Falcons in 2024. He inked a four-year, $180 million contract with $100 million in guaranteed money.
Cousins was released by the Falcons this offseason, and signed a deal with the Raiders that pays him $20 million in 2026.
In 2025, Cousins appeared in 10 games for the Falcons, starting eight, and completed 61.7 percent of his passes for 1,721 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions.
Mendoza, 22, began his college career at Cal and became the starter as a redshirt freshman. He transferred to Indiana after two seasons and won a national championship and the Heisman Trophy.
He declared for the 2026 NFL Draft after the season. The Raiders selected him with the No. 1 overall pick.
Lance Zierlein compares him to Bengals QB Joe Burrow.
In 2025, Mendoza started 16 games for the Hoosiers and completed 72 percent of his pass attempts for 3,535 yards, 41 touchdowns and six interceptions. He added 90 rushes for 276 yards and seven touchdowns.
We’ll have more on the Raiders’ quarterback situation as the news is available.
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