Raiders just aced one of the most important pre-Fernando Mendoza decisions they have had to make so far in what’s set to be a perfect fit
The Las Vegas Raiders now have their veteran quarterback to sit behind, or even play in front of, potential rookie and No. 1 overall pick, Fernando Mendoza, after signing Kirk Cousins.
A day after watching Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza at his Pro Day, the Las Vegas Raiders decided to sign a veteran quarterback.
Before Thursday, the Raiders had just one quarterback on their roster in Aidan O’Connell. As a result, they needed to add two more, including Mendoza. On Thursday, his agent announced that Kirk Cousins would sign with the Raiders. This marks a pivotal decision, as choosing the veteran to pair with your franchise rookie QB is critical. The Raiders opted for Cousins, whose personality and play style closely align with Mendoza’s.
And, if they’re not ready to start Mendoza right away, Cousins can still rip it, too.
Klint Kubiak and John Spytek wanted a veteran QB to play right away
This often happens with rookie quarterbacks—teams can be cautious, not wanting to risk confidence issues, or because the roster just isn’t ready yet. However, fans want to see their new quarterback immediately. New head coach Klint Kubiak explained his philosophy.
“I think in a perfect world, he’s watching a mature adult run an offense and team,” Kubiak told reporters at the NFL Owners Meeting on Tuesday when asked about a rookie QB starting right away. “But you may have that veteran, you may not. You’d rather him learn before he gets in the game, but you don’t always get to pick… Ideally, you don’t want him to start from day one, but that’s a perfect world. Sometimes they have to start from day one.”
He’s not the only one with that mindset, either, as Spytek also expressed the same sentiment recently. But the thing with Cousins is that he’s easily still good enough to go out and win football games.
Cousins played in only 10 games with 284 total dropbacks in 2025, starting the season as the backup, and then the Atlanta Falcons had injury issues throughout the season. But, some of the advanced stats show he actually wasn’t that bad—much better than Geno Smith, actually.
Of players with at least 100 pass attempts last season, Cousins had the seventh-best Catchable Ball Percentage at 89.5%, meaning that percentage of the balls he threw were catchable, or accurate. He also had the sixth-best On Target Percentage at 78.1%, per Sports Info Solutions.
He’s still got the accuracy; at this point, it’s just about making sure he’s in the right system, the right plays are being called, and he has a good supporting staff. He has familiarity with Kubiak from their days with the Minnesota Vikings in 2023, so at least one of those things should be covered. We will now see if they can continue building around Cousins and Mendoza, or whoever the starter is.
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