Raiders sign Cousins ahead of drafting Mendoza first overall
He will likely serve as the mentor for the number one pick.
The Las Vegas Raiders have signed veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins just weeks ahead of their inevitable selection of Fernando Mendoza in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Cousins’ agent Mike McCartney announced the deal on X (formerly Twitter).
Cousins’ disappointing two-season spell with the Atlanta Falcons came to an end last month. His time in Atlanta always seemed doomed to fail after the Falcons drafted Michael Penix Jr. as their quarterback of the future in the first round of the 2024 draft soon after signing Cousins.
The four-time Pro Bowler was not informed of the Falcons’ intentions to draft Penix, but he joins the Raiders under no illusion as to what his role will be, with Cousins almost certainly brought in to help aid Mendoza’s transition to the NFL.
Cousins set to mentor Mendoza for Raiders
Las Vegas will make Mendoza the number one overall pick in the draft on April 23. Mendoza, who rounded off his preparations for the draft at his pro day on Wednesday, has been all but confirmed at the top pick in the draft since guiding Indiana to a National Championship that would have been considered implausible a few years earlier. Indiana beat Miami 27-21 in January to win the program’s first national title.
Mendoza would have been forgiven for skipping his pro day given his iron-clad status as prospective first pick.
But the 22-year-old was keen to give his team-mates who that are also heading to the draft as many opportunities to impress as possible. Indiana wide receivers Omar Cooper Jr. and Elijah Sarratt are each expected to be selected within the first three rounds, with Cooper a candidate to go in the first round.
“I feel like it went great,” Mendoza said after his pro day.
“You know quarterbacks have passed, have done shorter pro days than that. However, I just wanted to make sure everybody could showcase their abilities in front of all 32 NFL teams and really run routes that are applicable to the timing we’re going to be running in the NFL.
“I’m putting all of my efforts toward just trying to be the best quarterback possible for the season.
“But I know at the next level, there’s going to be a lot more snaps under center and that’s a big adjustment. I need to get used to that and just the nature of the game. Not only that, the hash [marks] are more condensed and the speed of the game is faster. So all those things, I look forward to learning.”
Mendoza can look forward to learning from Cousins, but he made sure to make the most of his final day on Indiana’s campus in Bloomington.
“You have to take a second to kind of realise what we have all accomplished together here,” Mendoza said of the Hoosiers and his soon-to-be former team-mates.
“It was a little bit of a moment of a gratitude, looking at those guys and really seeing the special moments I’ve had with each individual. It’s unlikely we’ll all play on the same team again, but, hopefully, I’ll get to play against and with some of those guys again.”