Everyone has their thoughts about when Fernando Mendoza should take over as the Las Vegas Raiders' starting quarterback. And ideally, he'll hold the job for a very long time once he does. The prevailing thought is whenever he's ready, be it Week 1, Week 8, Week 14 or in 2027.
In the meantime, Kirk Cousins is the bridge, placeholder, whatever term you'd like to use to describe a "short-term option." But the veteran signal-caller is also not going to just roll over and let the No. 1 overall pick win the starting job, as evidenced by the strong training camp he's putting together.
The competition between Cousins and Mendoza is as uncontentious as it gets, with a competing "with, not against each other" vibe. The idea is to make each other better, whatever that specifically looks like for a rookie and a 15-year veteran, and it seems to be happening on both ends thus far.
Still, Cousins knows the situation. Mendoza is the future in Las Vegas, whenever that future arrives.
Kirk Cousins clearly realizes his place in the Raiders' plans
A month or so after Cousins signed a big contract with the Atlanta Falcons in 2024, they used a top-10 draft pick on Michael Penix Jr. There's having a contingency plan at the most important position on the field, then there's undermining a substantial free agent investment by starting the clock for when his successor will take over.
This time around, as he arrived in Las Vegas before Mendoza did, Cousins isn't caught off guard by the dynamic between himself and a rookie quarterback. It's also fair to say that he was told the Raiders' plan, as coaches he is familiar with (Klint Kubiak, Andrew Janocko) made it clear what his prescribed role would be.
"I understand what I signed up for, and we’re all in this together,” Cousins told Jeff Howe of The Athletic. “We’re just trying to help the Raiders win football games, and I don’t want to be entitled or be given something I didn’t earn. I think it’s important that the best player plays, or the one who can help the team win the most. That’s really what the perspective needs to be. If it’s not me, it’s not me. We’ll all be working together and trying to help this team win and let the chips fall where they may."
Cousins also knows he can be a clear-cut starter again, albeit somewhere else, if he plays well for the Raiders, however many games he ends up playing this season. Or whenever that opportunity might come.
"It would seem if you’re playing good football at the quarterback position, there’s always going to be a demand for you,” Cousins said. “Just go out there and make sure you can help your football team win games, and let the chips fall where they may.”
A proud and accomplished veteran signal-caller can certainly make things tougher on a young quarterback if they want to. For all the criticism that he has gotten in his previous stops, Cousins just isn't wired that way.
And frankly, with the familiarity Kubiak and Janocko in particular have, that's why Cousins was chosen as the veteran to pair with Mendoza.
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