Kirk

Cousins

The Raiders’ presumed No. 1 overall pick, Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza, could end up challenging Cousins for the starting role this summer. For now, it appears as though Cousins is penciled in to break the huddle in Week 1. Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak prefaced today’s signing by publicly explaining the value in allowing a young quarterback to develop on the bench. If the Raiders add more offensive weapons via the 2026 NFL Draft, free agency and trades, Cousins could warrant matchup-based consideration as a fantasy starter.

Thanks to a prior report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, we knew this visit would take place sometime next week. Now, we know the day. The Raiders are widely expected to draft Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick later this month. Mendoza led the Hoosiers to a CFP National Championship victory in his final season, while also leading college football with 41 passing touchdowns. Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak believes sitting a young quarterback behind a veteran quarterback, to “watch how they run the show,” is helpful for the young player’s development, and the Raiders signed veteran QB Kirk Cousins earlier today. Next Tuesday’s visit could give Mendoza and Cousins a chance to begin developing rapport. Unless something goes awry, they will be coworkers before long.

For the 11th consecutive season, Cousins will play on a fully guaranteed contract. While his contract is technically for five years, $172 million, in reality he’s set to receive $20 million for one year with the Raiders. The Falcons are paying Cousins $8.7 million this season, the Raiders another $1.3 million and the Raiders have guaranteed Cousins a $10 million roster bonus on the third day of the 2027 new league year. One of the greatest bag-getters in league history, Cousins, who turns 38 in August, has another guaranteed contract in hand and is set up to hit free agency again next offseason.

Cousins’ agent Mike McCartney broke the news on X, formerly known as Twitter. The 37-year-old signal caller is a natural fit with the rebuilding Raiders, who hold the top pick in the upcoming draft with their sights set on Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza. Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak told the media this week that he thinks it would be beneficial for a young quarterback to sit behind a veteran starter and watch how they run the show. Now the Raiders have a veteran option on the roster in Cousins, which introduces the possibility of Mendoza sitting to begin his pro career.

The Raiders apparently did have Joe Flacco in mind for this role at some point, per Fowler, so perhaps it’s not quite as one-track-focused on Cousins it has appeared. Other veteran non-Cousins names still on the market include Russell Wilson, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Tyrod Taylor.

The Raiders have been linked to Kirk Cousins as a bridge quarterback ahead of obvious No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza for most of this offseason, and this helps explain why that is. Kubiak did say that “you might not have that veteran to show him the way.” The way the Raiders currently set up, they do not have that quarterback in the room. Mendoza will almost certainly start the majority of the season for the Raiders assuming the pick is completed, but these quotes lend some credence to the idea he could sit early on.

Gutekunst said the team has “discussed a lot of those options” at backup, with Cousins presumably being one of many names the team has tossed around. Cousins is familiar with head coach Matt LaFleur, as the two spent time together from 2012 to 2013, when both were in Washington. LaFleur was Cousins’ QB coach during that two-year span, and the familiarity with LaFleur’s offensive system would make for an easy transition for Cousins, who seems more likely than not to land somewhere as a backup in the coming weeks/months. With Malik Willis now and Miami, Cousins would make a ton of sense for a team in need of a seasoned vet.

McVay said Garoppolo is “working through his process right now,” as the veteran QB remains unsigned nearly a month into free agency. McVay added that Garoppolo’s return “feels less likely than likely.” Cousins and McVay spent five seasons together in Washington, with McVay serving as Cousins’ offensive coordinator for three of those seasons. As Cousins seems more and more unlikely to land a starting job before the start of this season, a reunion with McVay in Los Angeles as Matthew Stafford’s backup could make a ton of sense for both sides, and give the Rams two solid veteran options at the position.

Cousins’ free agency has been dead quiet since it was reported the Raiders could have interest in him as the legal tampering window ended. If a role as Fernando Mendoza’s bridge quarterback isn’t enticing to Cousins, it’s perhaps on the table that he’ll simply wait and see what injuries accumulate at quarterback over the offseason and preseason before picking a landing spot. He certainly hasn’t been in any rush to sign on to a backup role so far.

The veteran was released by the Falcons earlier Wednesday and is now drawing speculative ties to the Raiders as a potential mentor to presumed No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza. It’ll be a similar setup for the veteran to the one he faced with the Falcons last season after the team made 2024 first-round pick Michael Penix Jr the starter. It would seem to make sense for both sides, with Cousins set to enter his 15th season in the NFL.