The Las Vegas Raiders drafted their hopeful franchise cornerstone in quarterback Fernando Mendoza. You don’t spend the No. 1 overall on a player that you just hope to succeed. Yet, the team signed veteran Kirk Cousins to push Mendoza, not to act as a mentor but competition, a veritable ” iron sharpens iron” situation.
Yet, NFL insider Mike Florio believes that starting Cousins ahead of Mendoza could backfire in the worst way for the Raiders.
“They had the opportunity to take Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick in the draft. There’s a belief out there that Kirk Cousins is going to be the starter week one and they’re going to let Fernando Mendoza sit and watch and learn.”
In essence, there is historical precedent for a first-round pick sitting behind an established veteran. For example, Aaron Rodgers spent years as Brett Favre’s backup. More recently, Patrick Mahomes carried the clipboard while Alex Smith operated the Kansas City offense. However, neither team possessed the recent spate of losing or disappointing seasons that the Raiders did. Patience in the desert is short.
Let’s freaking go!
We have selected Fernando Mendoza with the 1st overall pick.
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— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) April 24, 2026
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Staring Cousins Could Affect Team Harmony
Cousins carved out a very solid on-field career and a stellar off-field one, making hundreds of millions of dollars. Starting an established veteran, on many levels, does make sense, but Florio views the move differently.
“And that may be fine in theory, but when you’re out on the practice field, if Mendoza is clearly better than Kirk Cousins this deep into his career at this age, late 30s, if Mendoza is clearly better, and you’ve got some grand strategic plan that you’re going to let him sit for a year, what’s Maxx Crosby going to say about that? What’s Brock Bowers going to say about that? What’s any veteran
What is the player going to say? Wait a minute. Wait a minute. The NFL has evolved to the ultimate one-year-at-a-time sport.”
Crosby views himself as the team leader. Remember, he campaigned for the team to hire Antonio Pierce, with rumors intimating that he would ask for a trade if the team did not acquiesce to his wishes. Additionally, Crosby’s media reach and availability allow him to speak from a different place than most Raiders. Florio, in his above quote, seems to talk around the fact that Crosby’s sensitivities could make starting impossible.
Model Teammate, But History Isn’t With Him
As Florio suggests, if Mendoza has outplayed Cousins in camp, not starting him would raise concerns. This hasn’t been a unique set of circumstances for Cousins. With the Atlanta Falcons, the team inked Cousins to a lucrative deal, only to turn around and draft Michael Penix Jr. in the first round. The Falcons committed the cardinal sin of letting Cousins tell them that he was not hurt, which kept him on the field.
In the Raiders’ future history, Cousins will probably serve as just a footnote, a marker of a time when a new era began. However, Mendoza will be measured by the greats in franchise history. If Florio’s assertion is correct, then the team needs to figure out a way to get the rookie on the field sooner rather than later.
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