Kirk Cousins Eyed Klint Kubiak Reunion When Joining Raiders

Rather than aiming for a full campaign spent in a QB1 role, Cousins elected to join a number of familiar faces on the Raiders’ coaching staff. That includes new head coach Klint Kubiak and other staffers who previously worked with Cousins in Minnesota. A reunion was seen as a selling point in this case, as the four-time Pro Bowler recently noted.

“It starts with the coaching staff,” Cousins said during an interview with the team (video link). “I was really excited to work with coaches I’ve worked with before in Klint Kubiak, Rick Dennison, Andrew Janocko. I had some of my best years playing with them… I think it’s a team that has a lot of young talent and they’re building something special, and I want to be a part of that.”

Kubiak served as the Vikings’ quarterbacks coach in 2019 and ’20 before spending the following season as the team’s offensive coordinator. That span overlapped with Cousins’ Minnesota stint, and it was followed by four straight one-year tenures around the league. Kubiak, 39, thrived as Seattle’s OC in 2025 and helped lead the team to a Super Bowl title. The play of quarterback Sam Darnold helped his head coaching stock and raised expectations regarding the development of Mendoza as he acclimates to the NFL.

Janocko (the Raiders’ new offensive coordinator) worked with the Seahawks as their QBs coach in 2025, making it no surprise when he followed Kubiak to Vegas. Janocko also spent time in Minnesota earlier in his career, serving in a number of roles from 2015-21. Dennison, too, overlapped with Cousins on the Vikings’ staff and was also a member of Seattle’s group this past season. He will work as Vegas’ offensive line coach in 2026.

Cousins is due $10MM guaranteed for the coming season, and his Raiders pact contains another $10MM in locked-in money in the form of a roster bonus early in the 2027 league year. His future beyond that point is unclear, but for now the veteran is set to spend the offseason reuniting with several coaches he has previously worked with.