The Raiders Are Finally Ready to Pull the Plug on the Kirk Cousins Experiment

The Las Vegas Raiders are finally ready to admit that the 38-year-old Kirk Cousins experience might have run its course. Head coach Klint Kubiak told reporters the team is evaluating everything, which is standard NFL coach speak for preparing to hand the keys to No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza.

A month ago, Cousins looked like a genius signing. He pushed Vegas to a 3-0 start, playing the perfect veteran mentor role while keeping the seat warm. But after four straight losses, culminating in a 35-21 beatdown by the Los Angeles Rams, the seat is officially on fire. You can only sell the veteran game manager pitch when you are actually managing to win games.

"Klint Kubiak said the team is 'evaluating everything, including looking toward the future.'"

Mendoza is not just some project player waiting in the wings. The kid threw 41 touchdowns and won a Heisman at Indiana before going first overall in the 2026 draft. So far, his NFL regular-season tape consists of exactly eight garbage-time pass attempts against the New England Patriots. Keeping a talent like that on the bench while the offense stalls out is like buying a Ferrari and leaving it in the garage because you are worried about scratching the paint.

For anyone holding Raiders futures or eyeing their weekly spreads, this is the pivot point. A rookie quarterback introduces massive variance to the market. Cousins gives you a known, albeit currently shrinking, floor. Mendoza brings the kind of elite upside that completely scrambles how oddsmakers and opposing defenses have to treat this team.

The Raiders are 3-4 and watching their season slip down the drain. Kubiak knows he cannot trot out the same stagnant offense next week and expect a different result. Expect Mendoza to be taking the first-team reps sooner rather than later, because evaluating everything usually ends with the rookie under center.