Raiders Valued Kirk Cousins For His Leadership, Too

The Las Vegas Raiders traded starting quarterback Kirk Cousins to the Minnesota Vikings this week, and the timing of the move came as a shock. The Raiders weren’t looking to trade Cousins based on all the reports, but when an opportunity to get a third-round pick landed in their laps, they took it. 

Cousins played well while he was in Las Vegas, save for his last game against the San Francisco 49ers. What he gave the Raiders wasn’t just on the field, however, as he provided veteran leadership and mentoring that had significant value. 

Sam Warren of The Athletic took a look at this in his recent piece, and he noted that there were certain parts of the Raiders facility where Cousins would position himself and engage in conversation. Sometimes he would pull out his tablet and discuss strategy, but many times those talks had nothing to do with football. 

Cousins was actively engaged in leading his teammates, whether it was through group activities or talks that helped the quarterback get to know them. Everyone was involved, and wide receiver Tre Tucker clarified the value. 

“Stuff like that trickles down,”  Tucker said. “Guys respect that. 

The locker room was a lot quieter on Wednesday, according to Warren, and what was missing was the quarterback's leadership. Cousins' stats included 20 passing touchdowns and a total of  2,340 passing yards, but Warren described Cousins as a uniting force that brought together both younger players and the fewer remaining veterans. 

Tight end Brock Bowers noted that Cousins had a way of bringing people together, and linebacker Nakobe Dean said that the quarterback was “unapologetically himself.”

Cousins was often self-deprecating, which was the opposite of the leadership the Raiders have gotten in the past from defensive end Maxx Crosby. He also kept the locker room loose with humor, and Cousins himself was part of an effort to bring in “winning players.” 

The winning part even worked, initially. The Raiders' three-game winning streak to open the season wasn’t expected, but it was part of the reason the trade became so tough, as Cousins knew exactly what his role was and he was able to embrace it. 

Now that task will fall on rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who thanked Cousins effusively for his efforts. The rookie learned the right way, and while that might not have an immediate impact on the field, it could be huge once Mendoza gets through the early stages of his learning process and genuinely takes over the offense.