Raiders Had Competition To Sign Cousins During Offseason

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins was largely seen as a placeholder when the Raiders signed him back during the offseason, but Cousins is currently tied for the NFL lead in touchdown passes with Brock Purdy of the San Francisco 49ers with a total of 11. 

There’s a lot of focus on Cousins’ story right now, and one tidbit that’s emerged is that the Raiders’ competition when Cousins was available included the Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals, per a report from Connor Byrne of ProFootballRumors.com. 

The Chiefs part of this is especially juicy given that the two teams just went head-to-head on Sunday, with Kansas City edging the Raiders, 30-27. Per Byrne, the Chiefs pursued Cousins at the beginning of the offseason while quarterback Patrick Mahomes was still rehabilitating for knee surgery. 

The idea was that Cousins could have filled in at the beginning of the season, but Mahomes fast-tracked his rehab, and now he's back to his usual role of making clutch throws as the Chiefs beat the Raiders in a game that was surprisingly competitive.

The Raiders are becoming increasingly happy that they won this competition. Cousins is a four-time Pro Bowler, and he continues to star in Klint Kubiak’s offense as the new coach had the Raiders at 3-0 going into the Chiefs game. 

Kansas City, meanwhile, went on to trade for Justin Fields as their backup QB. Fields was rumored to be headed to the New York Giants just before the season started, as he reportedly spent his spring and summer spraying passes all over the field. 

The situation in San Francisco would have been very different. Per Byrne, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has long had affinity for Cousins, and Brock Purdy has a tendency to get banged up. The Niners already have a solid backup in Mac Jones, who “presumably” would have departed in a trade, according to Byrne. 

The Cardinals, meanwhile, are using Jacoby Brissett as a stopgap starter, and Cousins would definitely have had a good shot to beat him out if he’d gone that route. 

But Cousins has to be happy about the decision he’s made. He’s back in an unexpected starring role, and he’s obviously comfortable running Kubiak’s offense. We’re only a month into the season, but so far it looks like the Raiders have made a great move. Still, it’s interesting to contemplate the alternate timelines that might have occurred had Cousins made a different choice.