The Las Vegas Raiders may have gone 1-2 in the preseason, but the record has done little to clarify the biggest choice hanging over the roster.
If anything, the final preseason stretch made the quarterback puzzle messier.
Kirk Cousins looked sharp in limited work, steering two field-goal drives against San Francisco. Fernando Mendoza, meanwhile, took his lumps in the same game, going 7 of 14 for 57 yards with an interception and two sacks. The rookie has had brighter moments this summer - 97 yards and a touchdown against Arizona, then 86 passing yards and an 80-yard interception return against Houston before the rough finish against the 49ers - but the latest outing only sharpened the central dilemma.
That dilemma now sits squarely on current QB3 Aidan O’Connell.
At the top of the room, the structure is easy enough to understand. Cousins is the veteran with a long NFL track record and a relationship with head coach Klint Kubiak.
Mendoza is the future-facing swing. O’Connell, though, lives in the awkward space between the two, and that makes him the hardest player on the roster to sort out.
Keeping all three quarterbacks would mean giving up a spot that could go to a cornerback, a coverage specialist, or a developmental offensive lineman. That’s the cost of carrying extra insurance in a league where every active job has to earn its keep on offense, defense, or special teams.
But cutting O’Connell is no clean solution either.
He has already shown he can run an NFL offense, and that matters when the starter is a 38-year-old quarterback entering his 15th NFL season. If Cousins were to miss time, O’Connell gives the Raiders a steadier fallback than asking Mendoza to absorb regular-season pressure before he’s fully ready.
There’s also the trade route. Because O’Connell has starting experience, he’s not just another fringe roster player. If Las Vegas can turn him into draft capital, that would convert a tricky personnel call into a real return.
If not, the Raiders have to decide whether O’Connell’s value is greater than the value of the roster spot he occupies.
That spot could matter for players like Dareke Young, Albert Okwuegbunam, or Decamerion Richardson, any of whom could be squeezed out if Las Vegas decides quarterback depth is worth the extra space.
The wrinkle is that if O’Connell is released, he may not make it back. The Raiders hold the first waiver priority after cutdowns, which gives general manager John Spytek a chance to restock the roster. But that doesn’t shield them from losing their own players, and it certainly doesn’t guarantee O’Connell would clear waivers and land back on the practice squad.
So the choice becomes simple in theory and brutal in practice: keep O’Connell and sacrifice flexibility elsewhere, or move on and risk watching a capable quarterback become someone else’s backup plan.
Spytek and Kubiak have to decide which outcome scares them more.
The case for keeping him is built on common sense. Cousins has the experience, but quarterbacks get hurt.
Mendoza has the talent, but development rarely follows a straight line. O’Connell sits between those realities as a bridge.
The case for letting him go is built on roster efficiency. If the Raiders believe Mendoza can handle the No. 2 job behind Cousins, then three quarterbacks may be one too many.
And even with all of that, the quarterback picture still isn’t fully settled. Cousins was still competing for the starting job entering the preseason finale, and Kubiak had not officially named his Week 1 starter. That only adds to the uncertainty around what could be the Raiders’ most painful cutdown decision.
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Raiders Preseason Finale Raised Real Week 1 Questions
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There were encouraging flashes elsewhere, especially from rookie running back Mike Washington Jr., who picked up 49 yards on eight carries before leaving early, but the night also brought a setback on defense when rookie end Keyron Crawford went down with an ankle injury and did not return. For a team still sorting out depth and roles, the final tune-up left more questions than answers about how ready the roster is for Week 1. [Read more 🡒]