Why Kirk Cousins may start Week 1 for Raiders over Fernando Mendoza

The Las Vegas Raiders are sparing no expense to upgrade the quarterback position this offseason. Las Vegas is expected to draft Fernando Mendoza during the 2026 NFL Draft. But the Raiders doubled down at the position on Thursday, signing veteran Kirk Cousins just weeks before the draft. So who should fans expect to be the team’s Week 1 starter?

NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo explained why Cousins could be team’s starter to begin the 2026 season.

“Klint Kubiak the other day at the NFL’s annual meetings talking about how, ideally, you’d like to have a young guy sit for a little bit but sometimes you have to put him in a position to play,” Garafolo said on Thursday via Good Morning Football. “You don’t have to now play Fernando Mendoza if you don’t want to having added Kirk Cousins, a guy who Kubiak is familiar with.”

Kubiak was the quarterbacks in Minnesota from 2019-20 and the team’s offensive coordinator in 2021. He knows Cousins better than most other NFL head coaches.

Garafolo noted that Cousins was quite a hot commodity on the free agent market.

“Cousins had interest from a number of teams, he was in communication with a number of teams,” Garafolo added. “There was a possibility that, if Aaron Rodgers decided that he didn’t want to go back to Pittsburgh, that Kirk Cousins might have been in play there.”

Garafolo also named the Rams and Cardinals as teams that appeared interested in Cousins.

Ultimately, it sounds like Kubiak wants the option to start a veteran quarterback in Week 1 if needed. That seemingly leaves the door open for Mendoza to win the starting job during training camp.

Now Raiders fans can look forward to an exciting quarterback battle later this summer.

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