Raiders QB Room Has One Huge Edge Nobody's Talking About

In just 22 days, and leading up to it, there remain unexplored benefits that we are here to explain.

Offseason Maneuvering

There is no other way, if one is sane and cognizant of reality, to describe the Silver and Black offseason as anything less than a success. From the hiring of a new staff to the true empowerment of John Spytek, free agency, the NFL Draft, and more, all were big hits. The Raiders have made a complete pivot from their 2025 collapse.

GM Spytek has lived up to and earned the moniker for the Raiders' shaking and baking of “Spyteking,” and the franchise is significantly better today than it was just six months ago, when the season ended.

One Underrated Move

Perhaps the most unheralded move, for reasons you may not have thought about, was the addition of Kirk Cousins. His addition brings a critical ingredient that most franchises lack in a rebuild: stability to the most important position. More importantly, with the No. 1 overall selection of Fernando Mendoza and an organizational rebuild, he offers stability.

His storied NFL career has provided a proven signal caller to lead the new offense, and that is great. But Kirk is not the long-term Raiders quarterback. So if he is not the long-term guy and Fernando Mendoza is, why was Kirk's signing underrated and more significant than most things? Thanks for asking.

Klint Kubiak | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

The Foundation

Kirk Cousins is not the QB that the Raiders anticipate or even want leading them in 2030. The chances are high he would rather be on a golf course in Northern Michigan in 2030 when the season kicks off.

So while he is the man for 2026, what makes his signing so big is that, with the talent of the number-one proven veteran signal caller, comes a track record of team building, leadership, and teaching the best way: by example.

I asked Kirk specifically about that. He had thorough talks with Klint Kubiak, John Spytek, and even Tom Brady before coming to the desert, and he sees how his connection to the leadership can benefit the rebuild.

“It's a real privilege to work with Klint [Kubiak] again. I think highly of him as a person. I think highly of his system, his staff, Rick Dennison, Andrew Janocko, the way they marry the run and pass."

"It's a system that, to me, makes a lot of sense. So, excited to get with them again, and same for Tom [Brady]. Just not a lot of ownership groups would have someone with that kind of on-field experience that can talk ball with you at the level that he can. So, I'd like to think that that can be a competitive advantage up ahead, but it's a privilege to have access to someone like that."

Cousins' familiarity opens the door for him to reduce what the leadership team wants to the lowest common denominator among his teammates and help them assimilate into the new system immediately.

Kirk Cousins, the Mentor

The Raiders are not a franchise void of talent. Rookie Fernando Mendoza is the No. 1 overall pick; Aidan O’Connell has had bright flashes during some of the darkest franchise moments, and the two of them have the foundational character of Cousins to rest on.

Cousins talked about mentoring the two young men.

"Well, they're great people. They're fun to work with. We have fun in the meetings, have good dialogue. They're great football minds, great studiers, so they can push me. I think to say I'm mentoring them is a bit of a reach, probably more of a narrative than it is the truth, in the sense that they're pretty good players and pretty experienced, and I'm learning a lot from them too and asking questions of them. And so, it's always been a working force together in the quarterback room, and that's what it is.”

Kirk Cousins | DARRELL DRAIG HARRIS, ON SI

Like any good leader, Cousins desperately tries to minimize himself, but it is clear he is the leader.

“Nobody's leading more than someone else. I think we're all just kind of a working force together, helping each other, giving feedback, giving perspective, giving another set of eyes, and I've always felt I prepare my best during the season when we can all kind of be together in that room in the evening, going over things together rather than working in our own silos. I think when we can kind of all be given feedback on each other, that's when I think the best ideas come out."

Teammates Don’t Lie

In most locker rooms, the competition is fierce. The same is true in Las Vegas, but from a different angle.

There is no wondering, aside from foolish media speculation, that Cousins is the number one guy. First-overall quarterback Fernando Mendoza is third on the depth chart, but everyone knows he is the future, and a still wildly unproven and, up to now, poorly coached Aidan O’Connell has a bright future ahead of him.

Mendoza Brags on the Environment

Rookie phenom, reigning Heisman Trophy and National Championship winner Fernando Mendoza, was quick to praise the organization and the learning environment they have established.

“We've all come together and have combined our experiences, whether it's from an experienced mind, a naive mind, and Aidan's mind, who's a little bit of a mix, who's a little bit of veteran."

"And to be able to collaborate with Coach [Andrew] Janocko and Coach [Mike] Sullivan and Coach [Klint] Kubiak has been very, very influencing for me in my development, whether it's just sitting back and listening to Kirk have a conversation with Coach Janocko, whether it's asking Aidan O'Connell a question, whether it's hearing Coach Kubiak talk to the whole offense. It's been an overload of information, and I've been trying my best to take on all the information and try to apply on the field."

Aidan O’Connell Loves the Environment

O’Connell said of helping the rookie Mendoza, “Definitely feel like I'm in the position to help Fernando [Mendoza]. I've seen a lot of things in the first few years I've been here, and so just doing my best to answer whatever questions he's got. He's obviously trying to do his best. He's got a lot of questions, so we're trying to help out any way we can."

While O’Connell understands that things haven’t been easy, he isn’t bitter. In fact, he loves the role of an older brother to Mendoza and the opportunity to learn from a wily veteran like Cousins.

Las Vegas Raiders QB Aidan O'Connell | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

“He's energetic a lot, especially in certain situations at practice, too. Call it periods, we're trying to move the ball, he gets pretty fired up, and I think it fuels our whole offense. It makes us execute better. I think it raises the level of play of everybody, and so, it's been super fun to watch. I didn't know Kirk [Cousins] was that goofy before I met him, but it's been fun to see."

Reality Is Served

What Kubiak, Spytek, and Brady have done is deliver to Raider Nation the best of all worlds. A seasoned veteran nearing the end of his career who still possesses terrific talent and character, a young, albeit unproven veteran backup in O’Connell, and the hotshot rookie with no ego.

John Spytek — Raiders | Darrell Craig Harris, ON SI

Cousins will impact the organization for years to come, as well as the careers of his portages; the wins and losses in 2026 won’t define Cousins' legacy in the desert.

It will affect those whose leadership it influences. Cousins bring stability. The entirety of the most important position in football, the quarterback room, is being shaped like a ball of clay, and there is no better potter at this point in his career and where the Raiders are than Kirk Cousins.

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