Kirk Cousins signed his two-year deal with the Las Vegas Raiders knowing what he was getting into. He will be replaced by the team’s franchise quarterback-in-the-making, Fernando Mendoza. However, that does not mean the veteran is just going to be a stand-in. Cousins is not going to hold himself back as he competes with Mendoza, because there is a bigger picture in play.

“What the Raiders want is for Kirk Cousins to go out there and do everything he possibly can to make sure that Fernando Mendoza does not see the field,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said on The Insiders.

The job description at the Raiders offer was clear. Being a mentor to Mendoza and the other QBs, however, is not his priority. The job is to keep the Raiders competitive, which cannot be guaranteed with Mendoza leading the charge right away. He’s already assumed his position at the “bottom of the totem pole.”

Cousins is to lead a team that has seen only two winning seasons between 2016 and 2025. But the Raiders will attempt a turnaround this season, with Klint Kubiak as head coach. As they set out on this chapter, they need a steady hand to help them get the results they want.

The veteran is playing his 15th NFL season this year, but still has a lot to prove, like every other QB in the room. Cousins spent the last season with the Atlanta Falcons as the backup behind Michael Penix. When Penix went down with a season-ending injury, Cousins stepped in and delivered, throwing for 1,721 yards and ten touchdowns across eight starts.

Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the QB threw for 373 yards with an accuracy of 68.2% and scored three touchdowns.  For a guy coming off the bench, it is clear that he is here to remind people he still has something left in the tank.

Reports from OTAs suggest Cousins has been taking first-team reps while Mendoza works mostly with the second and third-string units. Per The Athletic’s Sam Warren, the veteran connected on a pair of good passes and was picked off once. Mendoza was able to land a deep pass on rookie wide receiver Malik Benson. However, Mendoza also saw a few of his passes being batted away and recorded a few penalties.

“We’re trying to create an environment of competition, trying to create an environment of growth for all three [including Aidan O’Connell] of those guys,” new offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko said. “No matter where you are in your career, that you feel like you come into that meeting room each and every single day and you have a place to grow and learn and become a better player, a better competitor, a better teammate.”

Kirk Cousins is 37 years old and will be one of the oldest starting quarterbacks in the NFL if he wins the job, being only a year younger than Matthew Stafford. Like Cousins, the Rams QB also finds himself in a similar situation, as he is expected to hand over the keys to Ty Simpson. But that does not mean they will not ball out as long as they have the job.

Cousins has also been pretty straightforward about the idea of him being a “mentor” in the QB room. Rather, everyone’s just doing their job.

“I think to say I’m mentoring them is a bit of reach; [it’s] more of a narrative than it is the truth,” Cousins said after the first day of mandatory minicamp. “They’re pretty good players, pretty experienced, and I’m learning a lot from them, too, and asking questions to them. It’s always been a working force together in the quarterback room. That’s what it is.

“Nobody’s leading more than someone else. I think we’re all a working force together, helping each other, giving feedback, giving perspective [and] giving another set of eyes.”

A lot of rookie quarterbacks get thrown into the fire before they are ready, and it shows. With the system in place, Mendoza does not have to be one of them. Kirk Cousins holds down the starting spot, while Mendoza gets time.

There is something quietly compelling about a 14-year veteran showing up to a June practice and making the whole room better just by being himself. Maybe that is the point.