The Las Vegas Raiders traded their starting quarterback on deadline day and named the No. 1 overall pick to replace him. A few hours after Kirk Cousins was sent back to the Minnesota Vikings on Tuesday, November 10, head coach Klint Kubiak and general manager John Spytek sat down together at the team facility, thanked Cousins and confirmed that Fernando Mendoza will make his first NFL start on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.
Kubiak, who has worked with Cousins for four years, spoke first about the quarterback who had been his starter all season. “He’s ignited our building since April, since he’s been here, as a leader, as a great teammate, helping us install this culture,” he said. “We couldn’t have picked a better guy to kick us off this season. He’s earned the right to be in this conversation, and his production put him in this position, and we’re gonna miss Kirk.”
“He’s one of the most unselfish guys that I’ve ever been around and one of the greatest teammates that I’ve ever been able to coach,” Kubiak went on. “His influence will remain on our team throughout this season, and it remains with Fernando. His influence on Fernando in our quarterback room has been tremendous.”
“We knew this day was coming”
Kubiak said Mendoza’s work in practice is part of the reason the Raiders could make the trade at all. “He’s prepared, he’s practiced extremely well, and his work habits also allow us to make this trade because we feel that he’s ready to go,” he said, “and we’re excited to have him take the ball for the game here on Sunday.”
Asked when he first believed Mendoza could lead the team, Kubiak pointed back to the draft. “I think it’s important that you don’t draft him unless you feel that way, taking him first overall,” he said. “To his credit, he’s continued to exceed expectations on the practice field. So, we knew this day was coming, we didn’t know when it was going to be.”
He said the rookie has improved in practice against the Raiders’ own pass rush, including Maxx Crosby. “I see him progress in his accuracy, in his total command of our system, his ability to get in and out of a huddle, operate two-minute drills, situational football,” Kubiak said. The most important part, he added, is “his ability to throw a football accurately and make good decisions, and I’ve seen those things really jump out.”
Kubiak did not promise a smooth handover. “I anticipate it being a transition,” he said. “We’re going to find out together.” He said there are “parts to his game that we might look to do a little bit differently,” but that the offense will be built around all 11 players, with the quarterback as “the ultimate point guard.” Asked whether it helped Mendoza to sit behind a veteran for nine games instead of starting from day one, Kubiak said: “I do. Yes, I do,” and added that “we had the right role model.”
Spytek: “I never made one call on Kirk Cousins”
Spytek opened the news conference by thanking Cousins, his wife, Julie, and their family. “He’s a consummate professional. I have the utmost respect for him,” he said. “He played great football. He led not only the quarterback room but the entire team.” He added that owner Mark Davis wants Cousins to know “once a Raider, always a Raider.”
The general manager said the deal came together on Tuesday morning and that Las Vegas did not shop its quarterback. “I never made one call on Kirk Cousins,” Spytek said. “I got a few phone calls, but one real one this morning.” He confirmed the third-round pick Las Vegas receives is Minnesota’s own, not the Eagles’ third the Vikings also own.
The plan since Mendoza was drafted, Spytek said, was “to play Kirk until something changed.” On Tuesday, the Raiders had to choose: “Do we want to go forward here over the last eight games or do we want to take what Minnesota is offering right now? Ultimately we decided to do that.” He said he had not talked to Cousins about a possible trade before Tuesday “because there was nothing to speak about,” but that he and Kubiak sat with the quarterback before the final decision. “We both felt like it was important that he have say in it, too,” Spytek said. Kubiak said the talk “reinforced how extremely unselfish he is.”
“In no way” punting on 2026
The Raiders are 4-5 after a 38-17 loss to the 49ers, and Spytek spoke directly to fans about what the trade means. “This in no way signifies that we are punting on this season or looking forward to 2027,” he said. “That is not the intention of this. We have a big game this week against the defending world champs.”
He also gave Cousins credit for the record. “There’s no denying Kirk played really good football,” Spytek said, “and he’s a big reason why we’re sitting here with four wins through nine games.” Asked about interest in Crosby and other players before the deadline, he said the Raiders “got a lot of calls on a lot of our players,” adding: “We say no a lot more than we say yes.”
Mendoza, who won the Heisman Trophy and a national championship at Indiana, has played one series in the NFL, late in the loss at New England. His first start comes against Seattle at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, November 15, at 4:05 p.m. ET (23:05 Cairo). Cousins’ first game back with Minnesota could come the same day at Green Bay. All of Tuesday’s trades are in our deadline day roundup, and Kubiak’s reasons for keeping Cousins as the starter two weeks ago are in this story.
No published comments yet. Start the conversation.