Kirk Cousins and Raiders agree to a deal as veteran is expected to help Fernando Mendoza transition

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HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Kirk Cousins agreed to a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders, his agent Mike McCartney announced Thursday morning, giving them a veteran quarterback to help ease the expected selection of Fernando Mendoza with the top draft pick.

Cousins' most recent team, Atlanta, will pay $8.7 million this season and Las Vegas will handle the remaining $1.3 million. Another $10 million in guaranteed money will come next March. The Raiders also have a two-year, $80 million option.

Cousins later posted “The Autumn Wind...” in a nod to the Raiders' theme that is played before every home game and was made famous by NFL Films.

Raiders coach Klint Kubiak and general manager John Spytek telegraphed this kind of move, saying they wouldn't want to throw a rookie quarterback into the starting lineup. It's been a poorly kept secret that rookie likely will be Mendoza, who won the Heisman Trophy en route to leading Indiana to its first and highly unlikely national championship.

“Ideally, you don’t want him to start from Day One,” Kubiak said Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings. “You’d love him to be able to learn behind somebody. That’s in a perfect world. It doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes they have to play from Day One and it’s our job as coaches to get them ready to go. I think it does help the player if they can sit behind a mature adult and watch how they run the show.”

Cousins, 37, has played 14 seasons in the league, including the past two in Atlanta. The Falcons signed him to a four-year, $180 million deal only to draft Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick just six weeks later.

Cousins went 12-10 in starting 22 of 34 games. His 16 interceptions in 2024 led the league despite playing in just 14 games. The Falcons released him heading into free agency.

He is 88-77-2 as a starter with Washington, Minnesota and Atlanta. His greatest success came in 2022 when Cousins quarterbacked the Vikings to a 13-4 record.

Mendoza had his pro day on Wednesday at the Indiana facility in front of all 32 teams.

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