With first-overall draft pick quarterback Fernando Mendoza poised to take the throne, could this be it for the Las Vegas Raiders' Kirk Cousins as a starter?
Las Vegas has a renewed sense of hope after the Raiders selected last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, Fernando Mendoza. The 2026 NFL season could very well be the last stand for Kirk Cousins as QB1.
However, Raiders fans will have to wait a while to root for what everyone hopes is the team’s next franchise quarterback, Mendoza. First-year head coach Klint Kubiak chose veteran QB Kirk Cousins over this year’s No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft. While Cousins continues to live a charmed life as an NFL QB, the 2026 campaign will likely be the last time we see Cousins as an NFL starter
Most would call Cousins an average to above-average NFL starter at the quarterback position during his time in the league. But for a fourth-round pick who wasn’t expected to do much of anything noteworthy in the NFL, Cousins has made quite the name and living for himself over the past decade. From his time in Washington to Minnesota, Atlanta, and now Las Vegas, Cousins could be viewed as an overachiever.
Over eight seasons, from 2015 through 2022, Cousins missed just two regular-season games, recorded seven 4,000-yard passing campaigns, and was selected to four Pro Bowls. For a player taken in the fourth round of the 2012 draft, in the same year as the highly touted Heisman Trophy-winning Robert Griffin III, Cousins’ career wound up being somewhat of a fairy tale in many ways.
Now, at age 38, it feels like only a matter of time before an unexpected career is put out to pasture somewhere on the strip behind The Flamingo Hotel & Casino. This is back-to-back teams within the span of a couple of years that have signed Cousins in free agency while also using a high first-round pick to select a QB.
The Falcons did it in 2024 after signing Cousins to a deal, then drafting Michael Penix Jr. seventh overall that spring. This offseason, the Raiders essentially did the same thing, using the No. 1 pick to take Mendoza. Although Cousins will begin the season as QB1, it feels like only a matter of time before the Raiders decide to shove Mendoza out onto the field, whether he’s truly ready or not.
There seems to be no patience anymore when it comes to rookie QBs, especially those selected in the first round. Unless there is an injury keeping them on the sideline, more often than not, you’re going to see that high draft pick on the field at some point in his rookie campaign. Knowing this, it’s expected to be only a matter of time before Mendoza trots onto the field to take his first NFL regular-season snaps.
Cousins suffered an Achilles tear to end his tenure in Minnesota during the 2023 season and limited him to eight games. Atlanta didn’t let that stop them from signing him in 2024 where he did return to start 14 games before being replaced by Penix. As we enter the 2026 season, Cousins looks to be in the same exact situation again.
The question this time is when we’ll see Kubiak make that move for Mendoza to begin his time as QB1 for the Raiders.
