The Las Vegas Raiders seemingly locked in quarterback Kirk Cousins to help get their season off to a solid start while rookie Fernando Mendoza learns the ropes in the NFL. Or did they?
It’s always possible the Raiders had a bigger idea in mind. Tom Brady is a smart guy. He could be thinking of Cousins in a two-fer kind of way.
Basically, what if the Raiders used Cousins long enough to get their season off to a good start and then trade him? It could make sense. Especially if Cousins performs well early in the season, because then he would be worth more when it comes to a trade.
So, if the Cousins-Mendoza competition ends up being short-lived and the Heisman Trophy-winning Mendoza takes over, it’s not a totally crazy idea that Cousins could end up playing somewhere else before he retires.
A Kirk Cousins trade could be a win-win
In this situation, it would actually be a double win for the Raiders. They’d get an experienced Cousins to kick off the season and then actually get something back from trading him to a team in need of a quarterback.
What makes this idea even a bit more likely is that as the season goes on, quarterbacks get injured, which means that another NFL team may, indeed, really welcome a veteran onto their squad if they’re in a pinch.
Brad Berreman of Just Blog Baby thinks this is a possibility, too.
“If Cousins only starts a few games, will that be enough to show other teams that he’s still a starting-caliber quarterback?” Berreman said. “If he plays well in that sample of work, that could make him a very tradable asset for the Raiders if a contending team loses its starter before the deadline.”
No matter what happens, the Raiders are shaping up to have a very interesting 2026.
