Why having Kirk Cousins on Raiders’ roster is crucial

The Las Vegas Raiders made a concerted effort to upgrade at quarterback this offseason. Not only did the Raiders sign Kirk Cousins, they also drafted Fernando Mendoza as their quarterback of the future. Las Vegas now gets the best of both worlds from their quarterback room ahead of a pivotal 2026 season.

ESPN analyst Steve Smith explained why it was crucial for the Raiders added Cousins this offseason.

“Well they’re gonna start losing games. But when you have a veteran like Kirk Cousins, you wanna talk about mastery, this is the only offense Kirk Cousins has been in when he’s been successful,” Smith said on Friday via Get Up. “He knows his bread and butter, that’s not a knock. The knock is when you have a guy who doesn’t know a system who tries to reinvent himself.”

Smith was clearly referring to Mendoza, who looked great in his preseason debut, with his last comment.

Cousins’ familiarity with an offensive scheme like Vegas’ also makes him the ideal mentor for Mendoza during his rookie season.

“Kirk Cousins knows exactly and that’s the best way, because Kirk is going to push him, but Kirk is also going to put his around around him as well,” Smith added. “And they’re very similar, very quirky and unique and I love that.”

Cousins is the perfect quarterback to show Mendoza the ropes early in the 2026 season. Even if Cousins is the starter in Week 1, the job will eventually go over to Mendoza. When that happens, the Raiders will be lucky to have an elite backup who is also an incredible mentor for their young starter.

But Cousins is unlikely to simply hand the keys to Mendoza when the time comes. The rookie will need to earn his job just like everyone else in the NFL.

It will be exciting to see how much the Raiders improve this fall after the offseason’s huge investments at the quarterback position.