Kirk Cousins Dropped Apparent Hint Before Raiders Signing
Words and actions say everything, and former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins clearly followed through on what he talked about ahead of his recent signing with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Cousins left the Vikings in 2024 via free agency with the Atlanta Falcons. Things didn’t work out there, as the Falcons opted for Michael Penix Jr. in the draft that year and later benched the four-time Pro Bowl. While Cousins is in the later years of his career, he believes he can still be a viable starter, as he expressed during a recent appearance on the “This is Football!” podcast. Las Vegas notably has the No. 1 pick in the draft and is widely expected to land Indiana star quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
“Well, I do think that there was a time when Aaron Rodgers got drafted and sat for three years. Carson Palmer got drafted and sat for a year. There have been teams that have said that was the plan, and then Week 4, 5, 6, the guy’s playing,” Cousins told host Kevin Clark.
Both Rodgers and Palmer had significant success because of waiting to start. Often, a quarterback picked near the top of the draft struggles mightily with his team if thrown into the fire as a starter.
Most recently, Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward struggled as a rookie in 2025 as the No. 1 pick, and the Vikings saw firsthand how much former No. 1 pick Caleb Williams struggled with the Chicago Bears in the early going. Cousins landing with the Raiders could do Mendoza a favor, especially in an organization that has been mired in losing for years.
For the Vikings, it’s painfully known that a year of sitting behind a starter might not be enough for a top-10 pick. Minnesota took quarterback J.J. McCarthy with the No. 10 pick in 2024, and he wound up on the sidelines behind Sam Darnold for a year due to injury.
McCarthy taking the reins in 2025 didn’t work out as he completed 57.6% of his passes for 1,632 yards and 11 touchdowns versus 12 interceptions. Now, McCarthy will have to battle it out with Carson Wentz and Kyler Murray for the starting job in 2026.
Cousins likely will start Week 1 for the Raiders, but after that largely depends on his play and Mendoza’s development. In addition, Cousins touched on the importance of continuity for a young NFL quarterback’s development, and he mentioned Darnold as an example.
“But the young guys you wanna give as much continuity as you can and just hasn’t been the environment many guys, including a Sam Darnold, have been given,” Cousins said. “When you’re asking a talented player to kind of rewire his brain and do something different, he’s not gonna be the same talented player because he’s gonna be a step slower and he’s gonna be learning and thinking again.”
Darnold was the No. 3 pick of the New York Jets in 2018 out of USC, and his first two stops in the league weren’t befitting of a high draft pick. Things turned around for him quietly in 2023 with the San Francisco 49ers before he arrived in Minnesota the following year.
Darnold was clearly ready to take things to another level when he started in 2024 with 4,319 yards passing for 35 touchdowns. The Vikings let Darnold leave in free agency in favor of McCarthy, and Darnold did more of the same with the Seattle Seahawks amid 4,048 yards passing for 25 touchdowns on the way to a Super Bowl win.
While Darnold was able to turn things around, many failed top draft picks haven’t. That includes prominent draft busts such as Ryan Leaf in 1998, Tim Couch in 1998, Mitch Trubisky in 2017, Zach Wilson in 2021, and Trey Lance in 2021.
Minnesota has two former top-two picks in the quarterback room who can attest to Cousins’ take. Murray is on his second team after things not working out with the Arizona Cardinals, and Wentz is on his sixth team.
If Cousins works out in Las Vegas amid a quality rebuild, Mendoza could be set up for a different trajectory. Cousins explained the ideal when it comes to quarterback continuity.
“The more you can be a Tom Brady or a Drew Brees, who’s been in the same system for 15 years, the better quarterback play you’re gonna get,” he said.
