Why Raiders’ signing of Kirk Cousins was a ‘master stroke’ amid trade to Vikings originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
During the 2026 NFL offseason, the Las Vegas Raiders knew they were going to take Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick, and they still signed Kirk Cousins to their roster.
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He was named the starting quarterback, and he ended up making nine starts for the Raiders. That is, before he was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, according to Tom Pelissero of The Ringer.
After this trade with the Vikings, ESPN’s Field Yates brought up a key point Raiders fans should take away from Cousins’ tenure with the Raiders: The signing of Cousins was a “master stroke” for general manager John Spytek.
Why Raiders’ signing of Kirk Cousins was a ‘master stroke’ after trade to Vikings
“The Kirk Cousins signing was a master stroke by Raiders GM John Spytek: The Raiders paid Cousins a total of $650,000. They got: 9 games of rock solid QB play, 6+ months for #1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza to learn the system and be mentored by Cousins, A 2027 3rd round pick,” Yates shared.
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There might not have been a better, more realistic outcome than what just happened for the Raiders with their quarterback.
Cousins got to let Mendoza marinate on the bench and prepare for his NFL debut as a starting quarterback without worry of needing to come into a game due to poor play.
Raiders fans got to watch a fun quarterback for the first half of the regular season, and now they’re making an easy transition to Mendoza, their first-overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, to quarterback the team going forward.
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It’s going to be a tough matchup for Mendoza in his debut, facing the Seattle Seahawks in Week 10, but regarding the Cousins experience in Las Vegas, it went about as well as it could’ve.
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The Raiders got Cousins for very cheap for the first half of the season, allowing them to evaluate their offense and also give Mendoza a cleaner entry into the league.
But, most importantly, they were able to land a strong draft pick, a 2027 third-rounder, from the Vikings in a trade deadline deal that has made this Cousins signing look genius.
It was already a good move, even if they didn’t make this trade. But now, the Raiders got good value from Cousins, a third-round pick, and time for Mendoza to develop, all at the cost of just $650,000.
There might not be a better $650,000 spent in the NFL than that, as the Raiders got a steal in Cousins and managed his time in Las Vegas perfectly. This is a huge win for the Raiders, even though the Vikings got a QB who can help them win a Super Bowl.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
