As the Las Vegas Raiders traded quarterback Kirk Cousins back to his former team, the Minnesota Vikings, it marked a new era for the team. With Raiders rookie Fernando Mendoza now leading the franchise after the Cousins trade, Las Vegas general manager John Spytek would give insight into how the deal came together.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday after the end of the trade deadline and the deal involving Cousins, Spytek said that he spoke to Minnesota in the morning, according to NFL insider Mike Garafolo. He would express that he never had the intention to trade Cousins, as teams expressed interest, leading to the Vikings giving up a third-round pick for the veteran.
“Spytek says he spoke to Vikings GM Nolan Teasley this morning and worked out the framework of the deal. ‘I never made one call (to shop) Kirk Cousins.' Said he received a few incoming calls but no attempt on his end to trade Cousins,” Garafolo wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Cousins would end up playing nine games for the Raiders, where he threw for 2,340 yards (fifth in the NFL) with 20 touchdowns (second in the NFL) and eight interceptions. Now with the No. 1 overall pick in Mendoza taking charge, Spytek emphasized how the Indiana Hoosiers product “passed every test.”
“I want to stop short of saying he’s earned it, but he put us in a position where we had to make a really hard decision today (to trade Kirk Cousins) with his growth as a teammate. As a leader, as a quarterback,” Spytek said of Mendoza.
At any rate, Mendoza now prepares as the starter for Las Vegas with the next game on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.