Feb 6, 2026; San Francisco, CA, USA; Rich Gannon on the You Better You Bet show on the Westwood One set at the Super Bowl LX media center at the Moscone Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Rich Gannon Weighs In on Raiders QB Outlook

Originally posted on Las Vegas Raiders on SI
By Michael Canelo | Last updated Apr 8, 2026 10:00 AM ET

The Las Vegas Raiders will go into next season with one of the most unique quarterback situations in the National Football League. The Raiders are all on board with developing a young quarterback to help them build a future with him under center.

The one thing they are not on board with is putting him out there right away in his rookie season and throwing him into the fire. That is something that the Raiders have talked about all offseason long, and they made sure they did it the right way.

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Last week, the Raiders signed veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins to be the bridge quarterback and the mentor to the Raiders' rookies. That rookie is going to be Fernando Mendoza, whom the Raiders are going to draft later this month with the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Mendoza is the best quarterback in the draft, but the Raiders do not want to set him up for failure in his rookie season as they are navigating changes once again and will be figuring out the offensive line as well.

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Rich Gannon Gives Honest Opinion on Kirk Cousins

Former Raiders MVP quarterback, Rich Gannon, gave his thoughts on the Raiders bringing in Cousins as the veteran quarterback and being a mentor next season.

“I think it makes a lot of sense, and I think you can look into it a number of different ways," said Rich Gannon about Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins. “He’s going to be the starter in Week 1. I don’t think we need to get that far. I just think bringing in a quality player and person like Kirk Cousins is important."

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Cousins has a lot of starts at the NFL level and he has seen a lot this game has to offer. He will be going into this season as the starter, but also knowing that he will be developing Mendoza during his time with the Silver and Black as well. Having this type of veteran in the building and the rookie learning from him will go a long way in building a great future for this franchise that is setup by success for many years to come.

“He’s got, you know, 14 years of experience; he’s got 167 starts under his belt. He’s thrown for almost 45,000 yards and almost 300 touchdowns [and] he’s played well for a number of different organizations.”