Home | tcmartinshow

Cousins a Raider and Starting QB

The Las Vegas Raiders continued the bold off-season moves in signing veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins to be their starting quarterback for this upcoming season.

The news may come to a surprise for many since the Raiders have the number one overall pick of this year's draft and are sure to select Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza from Indiana. This will give Mendoza a chance to learn under one of most veteran signal callers in the NFL and not be rushed in a situation where it may be difficult for him to succeed. First year head coach, Klint Kubiak has said he would prefer to have a veteran quarterback leading this year's version of the silver and black.

Cousins will earn $20 million fully guaranteed for playing the 2026 season. Of Cousins' salary this season, $1.3 million will be paid by Las Vegas and the remainder by the Atlanta Falcons, with another $10 million fully guaranteed due on the third day of the new league year in March 2027.

Cousins enters his 15th season in the NFL and joins the Raiders after spending the past two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons. He originally entered the league as a fourth-round pick by Washington in the 2012 draft and spent six years with the club (2012-17) before signing with the Minnesota Vikings for six seasons (2018-23).

A four-time Pro Bowl selection (2016, 2019, 2021-22), Cousins has appeared in 174 games with 167 starts and completed 3,934-of-5,899 passes for 44,700 yards with 298 touchdowns, 131 interceptions, and a 96.8 passer rating over his career. His 44,700 passing yards currently rank 18th-most in NFL history and his 298 touchdown passes rank 14th-most in NFL history.

During his time in Atlanta, Cousins played in 24 games and passed for 5,229 yards with 28 touchdowns and 21 interceptions. In his first season with the Falcons, he set the franchise record for passing yards in a single game, throwing for 509 yards and four touchdowns against Tampa Bay in Week 5 of the 2024 season.

After Atlanta selected Michael Penix Jr in the first round of the 2024 Draft, Cousins was designated as a backup. After Penix was injured, Cousins regained the starting job and finished last season strong. He was then released and now has found his way to Las Vegas.