Raiders coach Klint Kubiak repeatedly has said he would prefer that a rookie quarterback not start Day 1. That’s why the Raiders signed veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins before drafting Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick.
The sportsbooks like Cousins to start Week 1, but the NFL made it easier for the Raiders to start Mendoza from the jump.
Las Vegas opens the season with the Dolphins on Sept. 13, followed by the Chargers and Saints. The Dolphins are rebuilding; the Chargers defense lost defensive coordinator Jesse Minter; and the Saints have 11 total wins the past two seasons.
If the Raiders wait until later in the season to start Mendoza, they could do it in Week 12 against the Browns, which is followed by a bye week. The Raiders then close with the Chargers, Broncos, Titans, Cardinals and Chiefs.
The Raiders were one of five teams not to get a primetime game in 2026, so the NFL won’t showcase Mendoza this season if he becomes the starter at any point this season.
The NFL does not expect the Jets, Cardinals, Titans, Dolphins or Raiders to be any good this season.
They are the only teams not to get a primetime game.
The Dolphins finished 7-10 last season but signaled a rebuild with several big moves in the offseason. The Jets, Titans, Raiders and Cardinals all finished 3-14 last season.
The Raiders’ exclusion from primetime is a slight surprise given the presence of No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza and several big-name additions. Kirk Cousins, though, is expected to start the season for the Raiders, so there is no firm date when Mendoza will make his debut.
We don’t know if Fernando Mendoza will be starting at quarterback for the Raiders in Week 1 of the regular season, but we do know who the Raiders will be playing in the first overall pick’s potential debut.
The NFL’s schedule reveal on Thursday night shows that the Raiders will host the Dolphins at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 13. The game will be on Fox.
Mendoza will have to get the nod over Kirk Cousins in order to start for the Raiders. Offseason addition Malik Willis is expected to make his first appearance for the Dolphins. Both teams will definitely have head coaches making their offseason debut as Las Vegas hired Klint Kubiak in February and Miami hired Jeff Hafley in January.
Sunday will also feature a pair of divisional games in the late afternoon window. The Packers will visit the Vikings while the Commanders will be in Philadelphia to renew their acquaintance with the Eagles. The NFC North matchup will be on CBS while the NFC East clash will be broadcast by Fox.
The other late game on Sunday afternoon will see the Cardinals visiting the Chargers on CBS. Arizona could have Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew or rookie Carson Beck at quarterback for that contest.
The 1 p.m. ET games will send the Bills to Houston for a date with the Texans while the Browns go on the road against the Jaguars. The Colts will host the Ravens, the Saints will visit the Lions, the Buccaneers will travel to Cincinnati for Dexter Lawrence’s first game as a Bengal, and the Steelers will kick off the Mike McCarthy era — with or without Aaron Rodgers — at home against the Falcons.
Previous reports revealed that the Jets will be in Tennessee and that the Bears will head to Charlotte to face the Panthers. The Jets-Titans game will be on CBS along with the Bills-Texans, Ravens-Colts and Browns-Jaguars games. All the other 1 p.m. games will be on Fox.
The entire Week 1 slate will kick off on Wednesday, September 9 with a Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl rematch in Seattle on NBC. Thursday will bring a Netflix game between the 49ers and Rams in the NFL’s first game in Melbourne and Sunday night will find the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium to meet the Giants on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Those games were all announced ahead of Thursday’s full schedule reveal, which was also the case for the ESPN Monday night game between the Broncos and Chiefs in Kansas City.
Signs keep pointing to Egon Durban eventually becoming the majority owner of the Raiders.
Bloomberg reports that a group led by the Silver Lake executive will be acquiring another 25 percent of the team. The transaction will give Durban’s group nearly 40 percent of the team.
The NFL’s finance committee has already approved the deal. Per the report, owners will be taking up the issue at next week’s quarterly meeting.
Earlier this year, Durban acquired an option to buy controlling interest in the team, if/when Mark Davis decides to sell. At the time, an unnamed source insisted that Davis has “no intention” to sell. Later comments from Davis seemed to prop the door open to the possibility.
“I don’t have any children or a wife at this time,” Mark Davis told Paul Gutierrez of Raiders.com in April 2026, “and so it was prudent to put together a succession plan that would make sure that there were no issues, should something happen to me or should I decide. . . .”
Should I decide.
Should he decide, Durban would likely take over. And it’s believed by some that this would give minority owner Tom Brady even greater influence, if/when he ever decides to fully embrace his role with the team.
For now, Brady has kept his distance — even though Davis may have expected more involvement from Brady. At some point, Brady could decide to limit his various cash grabs and focus on taking the Raiders’ football operation by the eye patch.
Veteran defensive tackle Benito Jones has found a home for the 2026 season.
The Raiders announced that they have signed Jones on Wednesday. They waived defensive tackle Brodric Martin with an injury designation in a corresponding move.
Jones had 15 tackles and a sack in 14 games for the Dolphins last season. He entered the NFL with Miami as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and played 34 games for the Lions in 2022 and 2023 before returning to Miami for the last two seasons.
Jones has 83 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks for his entire career.
Martin played in one game for the Steelers last year and was claimed off of waivers by Las Vegas in December.
