Kirk Cousins has done it again. He’s won yet another starting job.
When everyone counts him out, Cousins plays his best. So when the Las Vegas Raiders paired him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, he locked in. He’s obviously been taking reigning Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza under his wing and the Raiders signed him knowing that they were going to be drafting the Indiana star in the draft.
But he went one step further and reportedly beat out the No. 1 overall pick for the starting job.
Las Vegas wanted to use Cousins as the perfect mentor for Mendoza so the No. 1 pick could grow and flourish. They both have very similar personalities so the pairing makes sense, but Cousins wasn’t ready to slide into a backup role for the remainder of his NFL career, much to the surprise — and delight — of the Raiders’ front office.
While Cousins may not last the entire season as the starter, much like he didn’t in 2024 when the Atlanta Falcons replaced him with the recently-drafted Michael Penix Jr., he’s going to at least set the tone before handing the reigns to Mendoza the rest of the way.
Cousins’ massive five-year contract with the Raiders makes it seem like they’re going to try and squeeze every last drop of football production out of the former Michigan State star.
Cousins has now been named the QB1 for his fourth different NFL franchise and his third in the past four years. He’s still got it, folks.
At the ripe age of 38, he’s starting over the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft.
Kirk Cousins isn’t ready for retirement
Usually at this point in a quarterback’s career, they’re ready to hand the reigns off to a younger guy while playing the role of mentor, holding a clipboard for the rest of their career.
Not Cousins.
The Michigan State fan favorite experienced what it was like to lose his starting job to a rookie with the Atlanta Falcons, and he wasn’t ready to go through that again — at least not yet.
Cousins had his least productive NFL season with the Falcons in 2025, passing for 1,721 yards and 10 touchdowns with five picks but he wanted a fresh start because Atlanta was going to stick with Penix. He chose Vegas and that turned out to be a wise move because he’s the starting quarterback ahead of the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Everyone just assumed that his playing days were over and he would be relegated to a clipboard holder for the Raiders after they drafted Mendoza, but he had other ideas.
Now can he still sling it? We’re about to find out in a couple of weeks.
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