Veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins will open training camp as the Las Vegas Raiders’ starting quarterback under first-year head coach Klint Kubiak, holding off No. 1 overall draft pick Fernando Mendoza for the job as practices get underway in Henderson, Nevada.
Head coach Klint Kubiak confirmed that the veteran signal-caller will take the first-team snaps when the team opens its initial training camp practice, leaning on past experience over rookie potential for the start of the 2026 season.
Klint Kubiak Names Kirk Cousins Starter for Opening Camp
Kubiak made the decision clear during a press conference at the Intermountain Health Performance Center in Henderson, Nevada. Having previously worked alongside Cousins in Minnesota from 2019 through 2021, Kubiak noted that the veteran understands the offensive system and has earned the role through his spring performance.
“When we go out to practice tomorrow, Kirk Cousins is the starting quarterback. He’s the guy, and he deserves it because he’s played really good football.”
Klint Kubiak, Head Coach, Las Vegas Raiders
Kubiak added that he wants both Mendoza and Aidan O’Connell to push the veteran signal-caller through training camp. Cousins joined the Raiders on a contract that only includes guaranteed money for the 2026 season.
In late March, Kubiak said he’d prefer to avoid starting Mendoza, the eventual No. 1 overall pick in April, from Day 1, revealing he’d rather Mendoza learn behind a veteran capable of handling the job for the time being. A few days later, Las Vegas signed Cousins to fulfill Kubiak’s wish.
Fernando Mendoza Adjusts to Nevada Heat While Learning Behind a Veteran
The decision to start Cousins keeps the team’s prized rookie on the sideline to begin his professional career. Indiana Hoosiers alum Mendoza, 22, was selected by the Raiders as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft, a milestone that he celebrated at home in Florida with his parents at the family’s $2.5 million Miami abode. Having eschewed the opportunity to travel to Pittsburgh for the official NFL draft event in order to stay with his mother, who has multiple sclerosis and was unable to travel, Mendoza has now flown the family nest. He revealed in a new interview with People magazine that he’s already settled into life in Las Vegas ahead of the season.
The Las Vegas Raiders’ newest quarterback recruit Fernando Mendoza is itching to kick off his tenure with the team—but first, he’s giving himself some time to get to grips with his new hometown in Nevada, specifically the dry desert heat.
As Mendoza reiterated, the Raiders QBs are actually hoping for the best for each other entering camp. 'Hey, I saw this,' or, 'Hey, I saw that,'
he said, referencing talk amongst the signal callers. Competing with each other and growing with each other.
And therein lies the key. Remember, a week before the Raiders signed Cousins in free agency and more than three weeks before drafting Mendoza, new coach Klint Kubiak said, in a perfect word, a rookie doesn’t start from Day 1. Rather, he learns at the knee of an accomplished vet. “It just takes,Mendoza said,
it’s all these different perspectives of how people have done things in previous offenses – how they attack learning the playbook, the play calls – there’s just so many different intricacies with an offense. As a quarterback…”
Evaluating the Timeline and the AFC West Challenge
From that point onward, Cousins has been expected to begin the 2026 season as Las Vegas’ starter. How long that lasts remains to be determined, but as of now, everything is following Kubiak’s plan. In a perfect world, Mendoza and O’Connell push Cousins and all three improve. Eventually, Mendoza is deemed ready to take over for Cousins at some point in the 2026 season, but not before Cousins leads the Raiders.
At this point, it seems like a lot would have to change between now and Sept. 13 for Mendoza to be Las Vegas’ QB1 when the club plays Miami in Week 1.