Kirk Cousins humbly walking into likely competition with Fernando Mendoza

Kirk Cousins is a competitor, and that's what the Las Vegas Raiders can expect out of him.

You don't play DI college football and then 10-plus years in the NFL without being elite in that one aspect of being a great athlete. Cousins is also humble, though, especially for a quarterback.

Perhaps that's why he was OK signing with the Raiders despite knowing that they're most likely going to select Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft (April 23-25 in Pittsburgh).

That's also presumably why he believes the Raiders shouldn't play him if he's not the better quarterback between the two players. This, even though they just gave him $20 million in guaranteed money to be on the roster for 2026

Cousins revealed on Wednesday that he told new head coach Klint Kubiak that the best player has to play at quarterback.

"If that's not me, I don't want to be out there," Cousins explained, according to Ryan McFadden of ESPN. "I don't think that's the best thing for the team. If I am the best option, then I believe it's important that those guys are out there."

Kirk Cousins could be a great mentor for Fernando Mendoza 

Cousins, 37, clearly hopes he's the best player. He's been in the league for a long time and has won a lot of games. Not to mention, he's made a ton of money.

It's also worth noting that Kubiak, a first-time head coach, believes in letting a young quarterback sit and learn behind a veteran. 

"Ideally, you don't want him to start from Day 1," Kubiak recently said. "You'd love him to be able to learn behind somebody. That's in a perfect world. It doesn't always work out that way. Sometimes they have to play from Day 1, and it's our job as coaches to get them ready to go. I think it does help the player if they can sit behind a mature adult and watch how they run the show."

That sentiment, right there, is undoubtedly Cousins' opening as he looks to end his NFL career on a high note.

"[I] want to make the most of it," he said.