NFL Insider Jason La Canfora: Kirk Cousins Gives Raiders Patience with Rookie Fernando Mendoza

Kirk Cousins had options. The veteran quarterback always does.

Cousins was actually the first NFL quarterback to get a fully guaranteed contract – well before Deshaun Watson’s failed pact with the Browns – back when he left Washington for Minnesota in 2018.

And he’s effectively played on fully guaranteed deals ever since Washington first tagged him in 2016, mastering the business of the NFL like few others ever have.

Despite a star-crossed stint in Atlanta marked by an Achilles injury and a poor scheme fit, Cousins remained a hot commodity as a bridge quarterback. According to league sources privy to his 2026 negotiations, Cousins was intent on reuniting with one of the two top offensive minds from his last playoff season in Minnesota: Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell or new Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak.

The move paid off. Cousins—who has now amassed over $320 million in career earnings per Spotrac—is in his best position to thrive since leaving Minnesota. While overall top pick Fernando Mendoza is waiting in the wings, the Raiders aren’t rushing the transition.

Sources indicate the front office, along with minority owner Tom Brady, feels confident Cousins can stabilize a franchise coming off a league-worst 2025 campaign before handing the reins to Mendoza.

Cousins should provide that stability, and he won’t give up the starting job without a fight.

“There really weren’t many options that appealed to him,” explained one league source involved in the offseason quarterback market. “Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland didn’t make sense. San Francisco would have been attractive if they were willing to trade Mac Jones so Kirk could reunite with Kyle Shanahan, but that was off the table. Meanwhile, Minnesota favored Kyler Murray due to his age and athleticism.

“Las Vegas offered the best situation,” the source added. “He gets to play, mentor a rookie, and reunite with Klint Kubiak. Plus, Tom Brady sees the game through a quarterback’s lens and is committed to building an organization that supports the position.” 

Cousins wins again. 

Indeed, his 2026 base salary (much like Murray, who landed with the Vikings, and Tua Tagovailoa, who replaced Cousins in Atlanta) was going to equate to a veteran-minimum situation no matter what, but including a guaranteed bonus he’ll make over $11M this season.

Cousins, who turns 38 this month, remains feisty and fiery, getting in a scuffle with 6-foot-5 mammoth edge defender Maxx Crosby at a recent camp practice, so he’s doesn’t want to ride the bench and hold a tablet, and he understands the nuance and complexities of Kubiak’s system in a way Mendoza just can’t. 

“I wouldn’t put the kid out there either,” former Raiders MVP quarterback Rich Gannon, an NFL analyst who is a part of Raiders pre-season broadcasts told me. “I feel really good about Cousins and what he can do in this offense. Klint doesn’t have to slow down the install or hold back anything, and Mendoza can learn as they go.” 

As a practical matter, Cousins is clearly better equipped to help them compete early with an offensive line that is still gelling with new parts.

Mendoza was almost exclusively in the shotgun at Indiana, where he led the sad program to an improbable national title, while Kubiak operates far more under center, selling the runoff play action and taking deep shots on five-and-seven step drops. 

Foreign terrain for the rookie, but what Cousins does best. 

“Klint knows what he has in Cousins,” Gannon said. “And he knows what he’s doing. This isn’t new for him – he knows how to install and call plays and game plans. I think it’s going to be good on offense, I really do.” 

Cousins has a career passer rating of 114.3 when taking under-center play action shots in his career (72 touchdowns to 15 interceptions). While 2021 is quite some time ago, Cousins did have a 123.5 rating on play action passes out from under center in that season – his one with Kubiak calling plays (11 TDs, 2 INTs and 10 yards/attempt on 136 dropbacks).

Part of why Cousins’s struggled so much in Atlanta was the over-reliance on the pistol formation, especially when coming off a major injury, and numerous league sources said former Falcons coordinator Zac Robinson was rigid and the coach and QB never hit it off, with trust issues festering. 

That’s not an issue with him and Kubiak. They already have a strong working relationship and know which buttons to push and which to lay off. Cousins is old, but athleticism was never a big part of his game.

A Better Fit, A Better Floor

Zak Robinson was clearly in over his head as a play-caller, and Cousins is the textbook system quarterback who needs a elite strategist pulling the strings. Klint Kubiak—who just guided former journeyman Sam Darnold to a Lombardi Trophy in Seattle last season—certainly qualifies.

Getting even a strong half-season out of Cousins would be a win for Las Vegas, which feels like a reasonable benchmark for now.

“I think it was a really smart move for the Raiders,” NFL analyst and two-time Super Bowl-winning QB Phil Simms told me. “Cousins looked a lot better last year than the year before. It’s a great fit for the kind of quarterback they need.”

The Raiders should also expect a significant bounce-back year from running back Ashton Jeanty after a porous offensive line and disastrous quarterback play derailed his 2025 rookie season.

Meanwhile, Cousins—who has targeted tight ends heavily throughout his career—may inherit the NFL’s premier TE tandem in Las Vegas.

Brock Bowers remains one of the league’s elite size-speed matchup nightmares, and the Raiders actively rebuffed trade deadline offers for move-tight end Michael Mayer last year to keep the duo intact (for context, Cousins boasts a career completion rate over 73% when throwing to tight ends, alongside a stellar 105.3 passer rating).

“We asked about him,” one rival general manager said of inquiring about Mayer at last year’s deadline. “They weren’t open to it… I think Brady probably knew they were drafting a quarterback high in 2026 and wanted to have 12 personnel [two tight ends, one running back, one receiver] already established.”

Las Vegas remains a receiver short—and likely an offensive lineman short—of fully completing its offensive rebuild. Still, there is more than enough talent in place for Cousins to operate as an effective facilitator early on. Rookie Fernando Mendoza could do far worse than watching Cousins manipulate coverage, check at the line, and execute pre-snap deception.

He should probably avoid copying Cousins’ tackling technique on Maxx Crosby, though—some lessons are better learned by watching than doing.