Kirk Cousins doesn’t want to be known as a mentor to rookie Fernando Mendoza, calling the title “a bit of a reach.” Instead, the veteran quarterback says the dynamic is a collaboration.
"[It’s] more of a narrative than it is the truth,” Cousins said Tuesday, via Ryan McFadden of ESPN. “They’re pretty good players, pretty experienced, and I’m learning a lot from them, too, and asking questions to them.
“Nobody’s leading more than someone else. I think we’re all a working force together, helping each other, giving feedback, giving perspective [and] giving another set of eyes.”
Cousins, 37, signed with the Raiders only three weeks before they drafted Mendoza with the No. 1 overall. Cousins has the most experience and the most knowledge of Klint Kubiak’s offense, with the two having spent time together in Minnesota. But Aidan O’Connell, in his fourth season with the team, has the most familiarity with the organization.
Cousins said he, O’Connell and Mendoza have all participated in the learning process and pushed each other to get better.
“I’ve always felt I prepare my best during the season when we can all kind of be together in that room in the evening, going over things together rather than working in our own,” Cousins said. “I think when we can kind of all be given feedback on each other, that’s when I think the best ideas come out.”
New Raiders linebacker Nakobe Dean missed all of the voluntary offseason program. He was at the team’s media day on Monday, with Dean posting a photo on social media of himself in his uniform against a green screen.
Dean, though, was not present on the field at the team’s mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, according to multiple reports.
“No, there’s no concern,” Raiders assistant head coach Mike McCoy. “He’s a pro. This is the offseason. The number one thing is that we’re taking it one day at a time, and we can get through these next couple days and minicamp and you get through training camp. The key thing is to have everybody as fresh as possible and ready to go for the opener. That’s the number one focus.”
Dean’s absence is unclear.
He has played only 47 of 68 possible games in his career, missing time with a pectoral injury, a foot injury, a patellar tendon tear and a hamstring injury.
Dean spent his first four seasons in Philadelphia after the Eagles made him a third-round pick in 2022. He totaled 226 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 13 quarterback hits, three forced fumbles and five passes defensed.
At some point, Fernando Mendoza will be the Raiders’ starting quarterback. He’s not that yet.
The No. 1 overall pick is working behind Kirk Cousins and Aidan O’Connell in the offseason program, paying his dues and learning the ropes.
“I’m just trying to work every single day, and right now, I’m repping with the threes and a little bit with the twos,” Mendoza said Tuesday, via Sam Gordon of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “So, right now I’m just trying to prove myself and do the best in whatever rep I get and treat every rep like it’s a Super Bowl.”
New coach Klint Kubiak has repeatedly said he would prefer that a rookie quarterback not start Day 1, and the sportsbooks like Cousins to start Week 1. But the Raiders are giving Mendoza every chance to win the job, and he is doing his best to take advantage of the opportunity.
“I think there’s always a transition, especially from the college level to the NFL level, and it’s having those positive stressors, and that growing period,” Mendoza said. “There are going to be some growing pains. Luckily, I feel confident that I’m able to see the field well. My growing pains are coming from, ‘Hey, I’ve got to time up my footwork a little bit with the routes,’ and intricacies here and there. I’m really working hard with the coaching staff, who are pushing me, and have done a phenomenal job of relaying and communicating the information needed. It’s up to me take full advantage of that.
“I feel like I’ve been growing every day, from the first day of OTAs, then today at minicamp. I feel like I’m leaps and bounds ahead of where I was.”
More than 90 percent of the players selected in the 2026 NFL draft have signed their rookie contracts. Among the players who remain unsigned, there are two big clusters, at the top of the third round and the top of the fourth round.
The first six players drafted in the third round are still unsigned: Cardinals quarterback Carson Beck, Broncos defensive tackle Tyler Onyedim, Raiders defensive end Keyron Crawford, Eagles tackle Markel Bell, Bears tight end Sam Roush and 49ers edge rusher Romello Height.
The first seven players drafted in the fourth round are also unsigned: Raiders cornerback Jermond McCoy, Bills tackle Jude Bowry, Jets defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr., Cardinals defensive tackle Kaleb Proctor, Chargers wide receiver Brenen Thompson, Texans guard Febechi Nwaiwu and 49ers defensive tackle Gracen Halton.
Those 13 players make up the majority of the 2026 draft picks who haven’t signed their rookie contracts yet.
Bills General Manager Brandon Beane said on the team’s YouTube show that high third and fourth-round picks are encouraged by the players’ union to ask for contract provisions that the players in the previous round are getting.
“A lot of years it was the third round took forever,” Beane said. “The union is constantly trying to push down everything from the second round into the third round, and then the third round to make the fourth round better. In this CBA it feels like the fourth round has become more difficult.”
Beane said he understand why Bowry’s agent doesn’t want him to sign until he sees what other fourth-round picks can get, but he thinks it will work itself out before training camp.
“Sometimes agents are a little afraid to do something if the guy in front of them hasn’t done it,” Beane said. “They don’t want to look bad. It’s all recruiting. Jude’s been great. Until it’s done it’s not done, but we’re optimistic.”
A handful of first- and second-round picks also remain unsigned. Every player picked in the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds has signed.
Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy will be coaching Aaron Rodgers again this season and another one of his Packers stars came up during last week’s OTAs.
Charles Woodson won defensive player of the year and helped the Packers to a Super Bowl while playing a versatile role in the back end of their defense. That came after a long and successful run at cornerback with the Raiders and changing positions gave his career a stellar second act.
Steelers secondary coach Joe Whitt was on the Packers’ staff in those days and he believes Steelers defensive back Jalen Ramsey “has a similar skill set, similar size, similar speed” to the Hall of Famer. Whitt said he expects the Steelers to use Ramsey in a similar fashion as a result and McCarthy concurred with that view of how Ramsey fits into their plans.
“When Charles came to Green Bay — when we moved him inside and he played the nickel — I thought his game went to a whole different level,” McCarthy said, via Chris Harlan of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I thought Jalen has the same ability. He’s a special piece to our defense. He can play nickel, he can play corner, he can play dime and can also play safety. I’m really looking forward to working with him, but yeah, I can see exactly why Joe says that. That’s an excellent comparison.”
Ramsey is still getting used to the new defense things and said that things “have to evolve,” but that he has taken pride in “being able to do different things” on the field and the prospect of a back half of a career similar to Woodson’s should be an appealing one.
