The future is now, Raider Nation.
Fernando Mendoza is the starting quarterback in Las Vegas.
Quite honestly, it was about time.
In the boldest move of his young general manager career, John Spytek shipped starting quarterback Kirk Cousins to the Minnesota Vikings for a 2027 third-round pick at the Tuesday trade deadline, which signaled several things about this Raiders team and organization.
One is that Spytek and the front office don't quite think Las Vegas is ready to compete; otherwise, they would not have given away their veteran under center. And that's fine. Another is that the team's leadership is adept, considering that they played this whole bridge quarterback situation perfectly.
But the third and most important thing that it signaled was that the Raiders know that Mendoza is ready. Not in the future or in a few weeks. Right now. If they didn't feel that way, Cousins wouldn't be on a flight to Minnesota, and Mendoza wouldn't be starting on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.
And yet that's exactly what's happening.
Raiders trading Kirk Cousins is a Fernando Mendoza stamp of approval
Before the season even began, Klint Kubiak told reporters that the Raiders had three NFL-ready quarterbacks on the roster. And fans obviously believed him, as they watched Mendoza play well during the preseason and in his limited Week 5 reps against the New England Patriots.
Sunday's game won't be an exhibition, though. His snaps won't come at the end of a blowout.
Mendoza will be thrown directly into a scorching fire as he takes on Mike Macdonald's Seahawks defense in Week 10, which is full of talent and schematically challenging for even the best quarterbacks in the NFL. But Las Vegas wouldn't task him with that if it didn't think he was ready.
NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported that "Fernando Mendoza’s preparation every week during the season has been everything the Raiders could ask of him." And he's not the only national insider to have the same bit of information, which is that the young quarterback is ready, by all accounts.
Las Vegas had a plan, and they stuck to it.
They eased Mendoza in and let him learn behind a great veteran in Cousins, who showed him the ropes at the NFL level. And now the master is gone, leaving the apprentice to sink or swim. But nobody would throw him in the deep end if he couldn't at least doggy paddle or tread water.
While some may think it is too early to put Mendoza in the game, the Raiders don't think that. Some may say that Las Vegas is throwing in the towel on the season by putting the rookie quarterback in the game. I actually think this could be the thing that salvages the campaign.
What a shot in the arm it will be for the team and fanbase to have the No. 1 pick in the game. Can you imagine anything more exciting than the future starting now? Than getting to see the man who may turn this franchise around in his first action? I sure can't. This is a monumental decision and moment.
But it was not one that was made without the foresight and confidence that Mendoza would be ready.
Can we please be patient with Fernando Mendoza?
Let us remember, in the heat of all this excitement, that Mendoza is a rookie. He is 23 years old and will be going up against two of the best defenses in the league in his first two starts, so not everything is going to be perfect. In fact, nothing probably will be. This is a very tough stretch for him.
Mendoza needs to get his sea legs under him, as he hasn't played a full game since last winter's national championship game. The extent of his experience is preseason football, joint practices and garbage time. And he doesn't have a lot of banked reps with the first-team offense, so it'll take time.
Obviously, you hope that Mendoza shows some serious promise, and I'd bet that he does, but even if things look shaky, let's not panic. Raider Nation, we have waited so long for a proverbial franchise quarterback that we can't give up on or be too hard on the one we actually got.
Do you remember how hard it was to get here? How many years Las Vegas spent in purgatory, and how difficult it was to actually bottom out and put itself in a position to get a prospect of his stature? I'd be remiss if we went through that so soon again because we lack patience with Mendoza.
The Raiders proved by trading Cousins that this isn't going to be a quick fix; the Silver and Black are playing the long game. Mendoza is the main character. And he needs every rep possible to become the player that we want him to become.
That means touchdowns. That also means interceptions. It means bullet passes just as much as it means throws that he'll want back. For every pressure he evades to make an off-script play with his legs, he will get sacked or cough the ball up. Football is an imperfect game. It is hard. Especially at QB.
If Mendoza is to be the face of the franchise, he needs grace. He needs time and experience. And he'll need our unwavering support, Raider Nation.
Welcome to the Fernando Mendoza era. Let's hope it lasts for a decade plus.
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