Raiders HC Klint Kubiak officially named QB Kirk Cousins the starter on Wednesday, per Sam Warren.
This comes as zero surprise given the Raiders’ stated plans of taking things slow with No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza, but it is still notable since Kubiak had not made a public commitment until now.
Las Vegas is hoping in a best-case scenario that Mendoza will get a full year of seasoning behind Cousins before taking over.
However, history says first-round quarterbacks end up playing sooner rather than later, and No. 1 picks usually get the nod from the jump. So this will be a situation to track for much of the season.
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 guaranteed.
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.
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