When Kirk Cousins signed with the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason, he mentioned that he was looking “forward to seeing you this fall at Allegiant Stadium.” Maybe a part of him thought it would be as a starter wearing silver and black. But barely a month into his time with the Raiders, his history of being benched for younger quarterbacks has caught up to him again.

“With Fernando Mendoza coming in as potentially the starting quarterback, it’s just so exciting,” Davis said during a recent media appearance, hinting at where he sees the franchise going. “We’ve got the pieces in place. It’s going to take a while to get all the players and everything. But I believe we are in the forefront of getting this thing going again.”

Davis also talked about the franchise’s complete rebuild and the optimism that comes with it. “I do feel a different vibe around this building right now,” Davis said. “Everybody really is working together. Everybody seems to be on the same page. It seems like we’re ready to go for a long-term, sustained growth.”

That new vibe runs through Fernando Mendoza, the Raiders’ 2026 first-overall Heisman-winning draft pick out of Indiana. And for Cousins, this is all too familiar. Kirk got benched in favor of Michael Penix Jr. in 2024 and spent the offseason as the designated backup for the Atlanta Falcons. He still managed to start from Week 12 onwards after Penix tore his ACL in Week 11.  Cousins’ wish for 2026 to prove different seems like a dream now, as the Raiders’ rebuild doesn’t run through a 36-year-old veteran on short-term guarantees.

On paper, Kirk Cousins has a five-year, $172 million deal. But in reality, only $20 million of that is guaranteed for this year. The Falcons pay $8.7 million of it, the Raiders give him the veteran minimum of $1.3 million, and the remaining $10 million he gets on the third day of the 2027 league year. The Raiders can pick up a two-year option on his contract worth $80 million for 2027-2028, but right now his deal is a one-year stopgap at best.

Russell Wilson went through a similar situation with the New York Giants last season. He was projected to be the team’s starter while rookie Jaxon Dart developed for a year. But after struggling through three weeks, Wilson had to embrace the backup role behind Dart.

Dart, for his part, played really well. He logged 2,272 passing yards and 15 touchdowns against just five picks, and also brought in nine touchdowns through his run game. Mendoza, coming off a 16-0 collegiate campaign, has similar expectations riding on him. But these transitions rarely wait for the veterans to be comfortable.

The Raiders’ history also makes the urgency behind starting Mendoza understandable. Since Derek Carr’s departure in 2022, the franchise has burned through Jarrett Stidham, Aidan O’Connell, Jimmy Garoppolo, Brian Hoyer, Gardner Minshew, Desmond Ridder, Geno Smith, and Kenny Pickett. That’s 8 quarterbacks after Carr in the last four seasons, none of them working out.

Before Carr, JaMarcus Russell – the franchise’s previous first overall pick at quarterback – went 7-18 as a starter and never played in the NFL again after 2009. Of all the quarterbacks the Raiders have drafted since 1959, only two have winning records as prolonged starters with the franchise.

That’s the weight Fernando Mendoza is stepping up to shoulder. And based on what the owner just said publicly, the clock on Cousins may already be running. However, reaching that spot, for Mendoza, will require real work.

Fernando Mendoza’s blueprint laid out

The scouting report on Mendoza isn’t all clean, despite the first-round pedigree. An anonymous coach had noted recently that Mendoza’s “receivers made plays to make him look better than he is.” That wasn’t a knock on his arm, but it was a question of whether the talent around him in college inflated what the NFL is actually getting under pressure, against veteran athletes, with no margin for error.

Mendoza knows it, and so do the Raiders. That’s why they’re already working on a specific part of his game that didn’t exist in college – playing more snaps under center – to push his development before he takes a regular-season snap.

Meanwhile, three Raiders Heisman legends – Marcus Allen, Tim Brown, and Charles Woodson – have already weighed in. Their message to Mendoza: “Don’t try to be Tom Brady, earn the trust of the locker room, and be a sponge.”

There’s also a financial dimension to how much is riding on Mendoza. Renowned businessman Mark Cuban recently revealed that he’d bankrolled the NIL deal that brought Mendoza to Indiana. That kind of early investment rarely comes without expectations that follow a player into the pros. But there’s also a counterargument for rushing Mendoza onto the field.

JaMarcus Russell was handed the job without being ready for it, and he never recovered from that. Given the damage that precedent left on this franchise, sitting Mendoza behind Cousins for half a season while giving him reps might be the most responsible thing they can do.

The OTAs and training camp will sort the depth chart out. But with Mark Davis already calling Fernando Mendoza “exciting” and talking long-term growth in the same breath, Kick Cousins knows exactly what his role in this story is. Not the main character, once again.