For the first time in a very long time, the Las Vegas Raiders aren't stuck at quarterback. They have a good-looking plan for the future in Fernando Mendoza, and Kirk Cousins is playing so well in the midst of a 3-0 start to the year that our "Mendoza Meter" has stayed at a 1 for back-to-back weeks.
After a couple of dismal post-Achilles-tear seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, Cousins has a lot at stake this season. If the 38-year-old continues to play well, he will bolster his value on the open market when the Raiders inevitably decline his big option for 2027, and thus extend his career.
The older quarterbacks in the league are slinging it righ tnow, too.
With how quarterbacks are falling to injury around the league as well, the Raiders could already be getting calls about Cousins. The idea of trading him felt like a conversation for closer to the trade deadline, if circumstances aligned, not late September. But here we may be.
Kirk Cousins' performance is opening possibilities for himself and the Raiders
Of course, Raiders general manager John Spytek entertaining trading Cousins comes down to if or when Mendoza is ready to start. Until the No. 1 overall pick is deemed capable of playing at the level Cousins is, or until the team stops winning, trade calls on Cousins are surely going to be stonewalled.
That is a slippery slope there, of course, since entertaining trading Cousins could lead to residual reports insinuating that Mendoza is close to being ready to start. Klint Kubiak will want to keep the timing of that transition under wraps as long as possible.
All it would take to start the avalanche of speculation about Mendoza starting is an opposing general manager, who likely called about trading for Cousins, passing along info to an insider.
Injuries to quarterbacks inspired Bill Simmons of The Ringer to ask insider Tom Pelissero about quarterbacks who could be traded late last week. After mentioning Mac Jones and the now-traded J.J. McCarthy, Pelissero mentioned Cousins.
"The one that will be really interesting is Kirk Cousins," Pelissero said. "He's playing at a good level right now. He's on sort of a one-year contract, but it actually has a tail on it where the Raiders have an exclusive window next March to either cut him or trade him or potentially pick up his option."
Pelissero noted that the Raiders have time to see how things play out, but if they keep winning (and they went to 3-0 with a win over the New Orleans Saints since that podcast appearance), it may become a welcome quandary when it comes to what to do with Cousins.
"They're going to ride with Kirk as long as they're alive or until his play takes a dip," Pelissero continued. "But if you get that opportunity and someone offers you, let's say, a third-round pick for Kirk Cousins, I don't know if you can get that. But somebody gets hurt, and he's available for not a whole lot of money, like that would make a ton of sense."
Pelissero pointed out that Cousins being traded would be "dictated by circumstances," but...
"I would absolutely not rule out the possibility of Kirk Cousins being traded during the season."
That's not revolutionary information to suggest that it's possible that Cousins gets traded during the season. It has always been possible and will be until the trade deadline passes.
But it's worth wondering if Pelissero has some kind of information to drive his current thought process, even though everyone knows the Raiders won't be backed into a corner when it comes to offloading their veteran signal-caller, now or in the offseason after a strong campaign of play.
Add us as a preferred source on Google