The Raiders officially landed their mentor for presumptive No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza by signing Kirk Cousins on Thursday.
Cousins is a seamless fit for the Raiders. He’ll reunite with his former quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator with the Vikings in Klint Kubiak, who has taken over as the head coach of Las Vegas.
Most importantly, Cousins is an ideal mentor for Mendoza. Not only do their personalities appear to be a great match, but he is one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the game. He’s excellent at conveying and displaying the knowledge he’s gained over his 14-year career, from his breakdown of progression vs. coverage reads in December to his guest appearance on CBS Sports.
Cousins also understands the learning curve that is playing quarterback in the NFL.
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Back in February, Cousins shared his thoughts on quarterback development during an appearance on the This is Football podcast with Kevin Clark.
“I do think there was a time when Aaron Rodgers got drafted and sat for three years. Carson Palmer got drafted and sat for a year,” Cousins told Clark. “But there have been teams that have said that was the plan, and then Week 4, 5, 6, the guy is playing. I also think there was a time when coaches stuck around, when a quarterback learned a system and played in that system for most of the career. I’ve had nine play-callers in my career. … The turnover as both coaches and teammates makes it really hard because it is such a team game. The position of quarterback requires that continuity around you that you just don’t have anymore.
“When you’re asking a talented player to rewire his brain and do something different, he’s not gonna be the same talented player because he’s going to be a step slow and he’s gonna be learning and thinking again,” Cousins continued. “You want to take the thinking out of it. The more you can be a Tom Brady or a Drew Brees who’s been in the same system for 15 years, the better the player you’re gonna get.”
The presence of Cousins now gives the Raiders a good opportunity to sit Mendoza, like Rodgers, Jordan Love and Patrick Mahomes did early in their careers.
The Raiders have been adamant that they do not want to start a rookie quarterback right away, preferring to limit the amount of pressure on him and give him the supporting cast needed to succeed. For a variety of reasons, teams have not been good about sitting first-round quarterbacks, even when they intend to. Over half of the quarterbacks drafted in the first round since 2020 have started in Week 1. Every No. 1 pick at quarterback since 2019 has started Week 1. The last No. 1 pick at quarterback to not start in Week 1 was Baker Mayfield, who still became the starter by Week 4.
It’s not always easy to keep a rookie quarterback on the bench. With the pressure coaches face to win and turn teams around quickly, they don’t always have time to wait for a quarterback to properly develop. A rookie quarterback might also be their only hope to save their job.
The good news is Cousins gives the Raiders a better shot at following through on their plans to sit Mendoza. Cousins played well for the Falcons in relief of Michael Penix Jr. last season, and is still a solid starting option at this stage of his career. Teams have often had to thrust their rookie quarterbacks into the starting role sooner than planned due to injury or poor quarterback play from the starter, but Cousins should give them a good floor at the position, especially while playing in a familiar Kubiak scheme.
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EVA GEITHEIM
Eva Geitheim is an NFL writer at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in December 2024, she wrote for Newsweek, Gymnastics Now and Dodgers Nation. A Bay Area native, she has a bachelor’s in communications from UCLA. When not writing, she can be found baking or rewatching Gilmore Girls.
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