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Las Vegas Raiders QB Kirk Cousins.
Kirk Cousins has officially signed his contract with the Las Vegas Raiders, so he’s ready to get to work. The team is starting its offseason program, which will give Cousins the chance to cement himself as the starter before Fernando Mendoza is drafted with the top pick.
Though he’s getting older, Cousins likely could’ve played for several different teams this season. The fact that the Raiders don’t have an established starting quarterback yet had to be appealing, but there was one big reason he wanted to come to Las Vegas.
Cousins previously worked with Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak on the Minnesota Vikings. He brought over coaches Cousins has worked with before, which he’s very excited about.
“It starts with the coaching staff,” Cousins said in an interview with the Raiders. “I was really excited to work with coaches I’ve worked with before in Klint Kubiak, Rick Dennison, Andrew Janocko. I had some of my best years playing with them. Coaching is a big deal in this league, so getting around them excited me. I think it’s a team that has a lot of young talent and they’re building something special, and I want to be a part of that.”
Cousins Praises Kubiak
It has been a long road for Kubiak to get a head coaching job. He coached for five different teams and was an offensive coordinator for three before landing the Raiders job.
The longest he’s been in one spot was for three seasons. However, his lack of previous head coaching interest didn’t have to do with his ability as a coach.
Players who have played for Kubiak have consistently praised the coach. Cousins thinks very highly of what he can do.
“I can talk about him all I want, but my actions really show what I think of him, by being here,” Cousins said of Kubiak. “Great football mind, hard working, there’s a humility there that I deeply respect. He’s a great question-asker who wants to do what the quarterback’s comfortable with.”
Will Cousins Be Raiders’ Week 1 Starter?
There’s been some talk about how Mendoza is already working to learn the Raiders’ offense. That should make his transition to the NFL a little less jarring. However, it’s going to be different once he’s in the building with the players and coaches.
It’s going to take time for him to get everything down. That’ll give Cousins a pretty big advantage when it comes to winning the starting job. It also helps him that he has played in the offense the Raiders will be running.
Las Vegas certainly wouldn’t mind if Mendoza came in and looked like a superstar from Day 1, but they signed Cousins with the idea that they’d be starting him. That doesn’t guarantee he’ll be the Week 1 starter if Mendoza looks better, but he’s got the advantage for now. It’s hard to imagine the Raiders won’t give Mendoza a chance to start at some point, but Cousins will likely be the guy to start the season, barring any injuries.