Now Is the Right Time for the Raiders to Start Fernando Mendoza Over Kirk Cousins

While Cousins continues to put up strong numbers, the Raiders have more to gain by throwing the No. 1 pick into the proverbial fire.

The Raiders are keeping Mendoza on the bench for at least one more week. | Ethan Miller/Getty Images

As the adage goes: There’s no time like the present. And that very well may be the case for the Raiders right now.

After their 35–21 loss to the Rams in Week 7, Las Vegas has now dropped four consecutive games after its 3–0 start, and sits in third place in the AFC West ahead of the 0–6 Chargers. The silver lining—no pun intended—of the Raiders’ 3–4 record at the two-month mark of the season is that it gives them a reason to bench veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins in favor of the No. 1 pick in the draft, Fernando Mendoza. 

“If I’m not the best option, then I don’t want to be out there, either,” Cousins said bluntly after Sunday’s loss, answering a question about when Mendoza will eventually take over. “I want our football team to have the best chance to win games. … The organization will do what it feels is best, but I feel that Fernando has done a great job and has a bright future ahead, and I’m going to try and go out there and play as well as I possibly can to help us win and give him a great example to learn from until he does go out there eventually.”

Given the chance to squash the idea of a quarterback change heading into Week 8, Raiders coach Klint Kubiak instead said after the game that the team would “think about everything.” On Monday, however, he confirmed that they’ll start Cousins for at least one more week.

“Kirk is our starting quarterback,” Kubiak said. “There is no controversy there. He is playing at a very high level, and he’s gotta continue to do that for us to win.”

Cousins leads the NFL in touchdown passes (16), and also ranks third in passing yards (1,877) while having thrown just five interceptions. Still, the Raiders face an uphill battle toward a playoff berth after their four-game skid, and also have a tough schedule, as they approach the second half of the 2026 season. 

Oddly enough, that’s why now would have been the right time for them to start Mendoza.

Despite a gauntlet of a schedule on the horizon, the Raiders need to see what they have in their rookie quarterback

Fernando Mendoza's time with the Raiders should be now. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

After finishing the 2025 season 3–14, the Raiders landed the No. 1 pick, hired an offensive guru in Kubiak as their head coach and began revamping their roster—all while likely knowing that Mendoza would be their selection.

Among their offseason moves—which included retaining Maxx Crosby after a botched trade to the Ravens and signing center Tyler Linderbaum, along with veteran defenders Quay Walker, Nakobe Dean and Kwity Paye—was landing Cousins on a complicated contract that effectively evens out to a one-year deal.

It was the perfect move as they got ready to bring Mendoza in as their eventual franchise signal-caller. Cousins had already worked with Kubiak for three seasons with the Vikings, and his familiarity with the offensive system made him the ideal bridge quarterback as Mendoza adjusted to the NFL. 

Now, Las Vegas has reached the point where the long-term benefit of seeing what they have in Mendoza outweighs keeping Cousins as the starter. 

This is not about Cousins’s play at all. The quarterback’s performance this season is what’s kept the Raiders competitive, as their defense has allowed 28.1 points per game this season, the fourth-most in the NFL. 

But, when the Raiders named Cousins their starter over Mendoza at the start of the season, it left the league in unusual territory. It marked just the second time since 2007(!) that a rookie quarterback didn’t start in Week 1. 

There’s no longer much patience in today’s NFL, specifically at quarterback. Remember, this league saw both the Panthers and Colts bench first-rounders Bryce Young and Anthony Richardson less than halfway through their second seasons and the Vikings trade J.J. McCarthy to the Giants after only 10 starts. While those examples serve as cautionary tales, the reality is that the days that Raiders minority owner Tom Brady once knew, rookie quarterbacks sitting behind a veteran for at least one season to learn the ropes of the NFL, are gone. It’s now a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league, and with The Athletic giving Las Vegas just a 13% chance of reaching the postseason, the club has little reason not to start looking toward the future. Mendoza has played only one regular-season drive so far, going 6-of-8 for 46 yards in garbage time against the Patriots in Week 6, and needs more NFL reps. There’s no reason to delay that any longer.

It’s also worth noting that as the No. 1 pick, Mendoza signed a four-year, fully guaranteed contract worth $57.2 million, and there’s value in getting the absolute most out of that deal.

Specifically, their upcoming Week 8 matchup against the Jets—who are fresh off a loss to the previously winless Dolphins, and have allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete 60% of their passes for 443 yards and five touchdowns over the past two weeks—would have presented a reasonable opportunity for Mendoza. After that comes a tough stretch against the 49ers, Seahawks and Broncos, which would serve as an opportunity for Mendoza to gain experience against a handful of quality NFL defenses, while also allowing the Raiders to see how he responds to what would undoubtedly be some adversity. 

In a world where Las Vegas could have pulled out a win over either the Chiefs or Bills—games that were instead three-point losses in which their defense allowed 30-plus points—there would have been a case to ride the veteran a bit longer. Now, frankly, it doesn’t make much sense.

The future should be now for the Raiders. While Cousins has done his part to keep Las Vegas competitive, and will continue to be a professional if and when he’s benched, it’s time for Mendoza to take over as the Raiders’ starting quarterback.

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