Former Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins will open the 2026 NFL season as the Las Vegas Raiders’ starter, with the team choosing the veteran over No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza.
The decision keeps the rookie on the sideline for now and puts the job in the hands of a 38-year-old quarterback who has spent nearly his entire career proving he can hold down the position. Cousins signed with Las Vegas on April 6 after two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, entering his 15th NFL season and reuniting with head coach Klint Kubiak, offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko and offensive line coach Rick Dennison, all of whom he previously worked with in Minnesota.
For the Raiders, the appeal is obvious. Cousins has started 167 games, completed 66.7% of his passes and thrown for 44,700 yards, 298 touchdowns and 131 interceptions. He is a four-time Pro Bowl selection and enters the season among the NFL’s active leaders in passing yards, touchdown passes and wins as a starting quarterback.
That kind of résumé made him a natural bridge option for a team that also wants to develop its top draft pick. Mendoza arrived as the No. 1 overall selection after winning the Heisman Trophy and leading Indiana to a national championship, but the Raiders are choosing to let him learn behind one of the league’s most experienced quarterbacks.
Cousins’ road to this point started long before the NFL. The Holland, Michigan, native played at Holland Christian and wasn’t seen as a major national quarterback recruit. Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio came in late in the 2007 recruiting cycle and offered him a scholarship after Cousins had mostly drawn interest from Mid-American Conference programs.
He arrived in East Lansing in 2007 and redshirted while learning behind Brian Hoyer. When his turn came, he became the face of Dantonio’s early Michigan State teams and helped deliver some of the program’s biggest wins of that era.
From 2009-11, Cousins went 27-12 as the Spartans’ starter. He led Michigan State to the 2010 Big Ten championship, the 2011 Legends Division title and a win over Georgia in the 2012 Outback Bowl. By the time he left campus, he owned the program’s all-time records for completions with 723 and passing efficiency at 146.1, and he had piled up 9,131 passing yards and 66 touchdowns.
He also became one of only two three-time captains in Michigan State history at the time.
That stretch at Michigan State helped shape the traits that carried him into a long NFL career: preparation, consistency, leadership and a steady hand under pressure. Those qualities helped him outlast his fourth-round draft slot, where Washington took him No. 102 overall in the 2012 NFL Draft.
Cousins spent six seasons in Washington, then moved to the Minnesota Vikings in 2018 and spent six seasons there, earning three of his four Pro Bowl nods. He played the 2024 and 2025 seasons in Atlanta before landing in Las Vegas this offseason.
Now, he’s back where he’s been so often in his career: as the starter, with a young quarterback waiting behind him and a team leaning on his experience to begin the season.
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