Kirk Cousins is officially the guy in Las Vegas.
Klint Kubiak ended the quarterback suspense on Wednesday morning after practice, making it clear that the veteran will open the 2026 NFL season as the Raiders’ starter against the Miami Dolphins. The rookie, Fernando Mendoza, gave it a run, but the No. 1 pick is headed into the year on the sideline.
“Kirk's going to be the starting quarterback.”
That was the short version from Kubiak, and for a coach who has spent months keeping things close to the vest, it landed as the clearest signal yet about how the Raiders intend to begin the season.
Still, this does not feel like the end of Mendoza’s story. It may only be the beginning of a delay.
The Raiders have been pretty open about wanting their young quarterback to learn behind a veteran, and Cousins now gets the first crack at proving he can hold the job. If he plays well, Mendoza waits.
If he doesn’t, the pressure to make a switch will come fast.
That part matters because Cousins looked sharp in the preseason, but those snaps came against backup-heavy lineups and plain defenses. Regular-season football is a different test entirely. One or two rough outings, and the noise around Mendoza will get loud in a hurry.
Kubiak’s reasoning points to familiarity and command. Cousins showed more control of the offense, and that gave him the edge for now.
Mendoza, though, flashed enough to keep the conversation alive. He did more than enough to make this a real decision, even if the final answer was the one many around the team expected all along.
The Raiders have also said repeatedly that the best players will play, and John Spytek has been part of that message too. If Cousins isn’t performing at a level that justifies the job, the team will have to rethink things. Las Vegas can’t afford to waste another season of Brock Bowers or Maxx Crosby if the quarterback play isn’t carrying its weight.
There’s also the larger development question hanging over all of this. Kubiak said after the preseason finale that he wished Mendoza and the other rookies had three more exhibition games because they could all use the reps. That’s the challenge now: once the regular season starts, the live opportunities shift almost entirely to the starter.
On Wednesday, Cousins didn’t even take part in practice. Kubiak said, “[Cousins] was not out there today.
That was by design for a rest day, a vet day.” With Cousins getting that kind of treatment, Mendoza worked with the first team, a small window into how the Raiders are trying to manage his growth while keeping the veteran in front.
Going forward, Cousins will soak up most, if not all, of the reps. Kubiak said Mendoza will have to stay ready, and that he’ll do that by spending “a lot of long nights” with QB coach Mike Sullivan. Kubiak also pointed to the staff’s history of developing backup quarterbacks and players who don’t get a ton of practice work, mentioning Andrew Janocko and Mike McCoy as examples of coaches who’ve handled that kind of job before.
So the Raiders have a plan, even if it isn’t the most glamorous one. Cousins starts.
Mendoza waits. And if the veteran doesn’t hold the fort, the rookie will be right there in the background, ready for his chance.
For a fan base desperate for hope, that creates a strange kind of tension. Many in Raider Nation want to see Mendoza sooner rather than later, and plenty would only call the season a real success if the team learns it has its quarterback of the future. But the only clean paths to that happening now are injury or a collapse with Cousins under center.
Nobody in Las Vegas wants either outcome. For the moment, though, the fog has lifted. The Raiders have their Week 1 answer, and it is Kirk Cousins.
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The Raiders have already settled on their quarterback plan for 2026, putting Kirk Cousins at the top of the depth chart over rookie Fernando Mendoza and Aidan OConnell. Klint Kubiaks decision leans heavily on Cousins experience and leadership, a sensible enough place to start for a team trying to steady itself and avoid another season of uncertainty under center.
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Rick Dennison arrives as the new offensive line coach for 2026, with the expectation that he can bring cleaner fundamentals and better technique to a unit that badly needed both. The overhaul did not stop there, either, as the Raiders also upgraded at quarterbacks coach by hiring Mike Sullivan, whose long NFL background and prior working relationship with offensive coordinator Kubiak should give the staff more continuity as it tries to stabilize the offense. [Read more 🡒]