Raiders Pursued Joe Flacco, Kirk Cousins Still On Radar

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Raiders’ preference is to sign a veteran quarterback so they don’t have to start a rookie (presumably No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza) in Week 1. 

To that end, Las Vegas tried to sign QB Joe Flacco to a contract before he elected to return to Cincinnati as the backup for Joe Burrow on a pretty sizable deal for a No. 2 passer. 

Fowler says the Raiders continue to be connected to QB Kirk Cousins as well, who has worked with new HC Klint Kubiak before.

However, it seems like Cousins is holding out for a more secure playing opportunity for the time being. History says No. 1 picks tend to play sooner rather than later, and Cousins has been supplanted by rookies before. 

There has been some past interest by the Steelers and Cousins would be a strong fallback plan for Pittsburgh if QB Aaron Rodgers leaves them at the altar this offseason. 

The Rams have also expressed a lot of interest in signing Cousins as a backup to Matthew Stafford. 

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 this offseason. He inked a four-year, $180 million contract with $100 million in guaranteed money. 

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.

Flacco, 41, is a former first-round pick of the Ravens back in 2008. After over a decade in Baltimore, the Broncos agreed to trade a 2019 fourth-round pick to the Ravens for Flacco.

Flacco was in the fourth year of a six-year, $125 million contract that contained $44 million guaranteed and set to make a base salary of $20.25 million for 2020 when Denver released him with a failed physical designation.

He signed a one-year contract worth $1.5 million and up to $4.5 million with the Jets in 2020 before joining the Eagles in 2021. Philadelphia traded him back to the Jets ahead of the deadline for a conditional sixth-round pick. 

Flacco later re-signed with the Jets on a one-year, $3.5 million deal in 2022. He signed on with the Browns during the season in 2023 and parlayed a strong performance into a deal with the Colts in 2024. 

He re-signed with Cleveland on a one-year deal this offseason but was traded to the Bengals before Week 6 of the regular season.

In 2025, Flacco appeared in 13 games for the Browns and Bengals and completed 60.3 percent of his pass attempts for 2,479 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.

We’ll have more on the Raiders and Cousins as the news is available.