4 Roster Decisions That Will Define Raiders' 2026 Season

The Las Vegas Raiders' front office spent the offseason making roster moves to address the most pressing issues on the team. After years of making the wrong moves in free agency and the draft, Las Vegas is in the early stages of a rebuild that they hope will be quick.

Still, neither Las Vegas' front office, coaching staff, nor players are in denial. All involved are fully aware of the challenges at hand and the fact that the rebuild the Raiders seek to complete will take time.

As they enter the second season under general manager John Spytek and their first under first-time head coach Klint Kubiak, the clock is ticking. The Raiders have already made notable additions to their roster, but some will have a greater impact than others.

Below are four roster moves that will determine the Raiders' 2026 season. Las Vegas made a laundry list of moves that will impact the season; the ones listed below are just a few.

Signing Kirk Cousins

It seems nearly impossible for the Raiders to be worse at the quarterback position than they have been over the past three seasons. Cousins already looks like a better fit for the Raiders under Kubiak than any of the other quarterback-and-coach combinations Las Vegas has tried in recent seasons.

Cousins gives the Raiders a legitimate signal-caller who can help them win games, while also allowing No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza to develop gradually, instead of in a hurry. This means the addition of Cousins will impact the Raiders long after he and the team part ways.

Drafting Treydan Stukes

Stukes has already earned a significant role in the Raiders' defense this season. However, that role could grow even further as he becomes more acquainted with the professional level. The addition of Stukes could be huge for Las Vegas as soon as Week 1.

Regardless of when it happens, it seems inevitable that Stukes will become one of the most critical members of Las Vegas' rebuilding defense.

Utilizing a Fullback/Lead Blocker

One of the most significant mistakes the Raiders made over the past three seasons was moving away from an offense that utilized fullbacks. Las Vegas took the position away to fit incoming offensive schemes, but those schemes and the coaches in charge of running them were subpar.

However, they took away an extra blocker while also fielding arguably the worst offensive line in the league. Their ground game suffered mightily for various reasons over the past few seasons; moving away from featuring a fullback or lead blocker was one of them. That changes under Kubiak.

Drafting Mike Washington Jr.

Las Vegas used the No. 6 overall pick in last year's draft on running back Ashton Jeanty. Then, they drafted Washington in the fourth round of this year's draft, despite having many other, more pressing roster needs on both sides of the ball. The decision to draft Washington is already making an impact.

Washington was already set to have a sizeable role in Kubiak's offense. However, Jeanty's injury has pushed Washington into the starting position. He will now carry a larger portion of the running back duties significantly sooner than anyone had planned.

The addition of Washington has already paid off for Las Vegas, and it did so before the first regular-season game of his professional career. Washington still has plenty to prove on the field, but one way or another, the addition of Washington is set to be impactful.

Aug 13, 2026; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty (2) enters the field before the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"I'll give Coach [Klink] Kubiak a lot of credit for this one. He stood on a table for that kid at the start of day three, and this is the perfect scheme fit and we can make this player into a good player, he has what we're looking for,” Spytek said.

“And so, it's hard for any rookie to really carve out meaningful minutes and be as productive as you want them to be. And Mike certainly had a great preseason, nobody's taken that away from him, but it gets very real, very fast here now. But I think we're all excited about the track that Mike is on, and I think we have an expectation that he's going to help us win football games this year."

Add us as a preferred source on Google