By the time the Vikings gave the Raiders a reason to trade Kirk Cousins on Tuesday, Fernando Mendoza had already given them the confidence to say yes.
That part played out on the practice fields in Henderson. While Cousins was throwing 20 touchdown passes in nine starts, the rookie behind him was coming along fast enough to change how the Raiders could approach the NFL trade deadline.
General manager John Spytek went into Tuesday willing to keep Cousins. He had little reason to shop a quarterback playing that well with the Raiders still in the AFC playoff chase at 4-5. But the sense inside the building was that Mendoza had made enough progress to take over if somebody made it worth the Raiders’ while.
Minnesota did, surrendering a third-round pick in 2027 to the Raiders to acquire Cousins.
It isn’t every day a team trades its starting quarterback nine games into a season that still offers a chance to play in the postseason. It’s also not every day the backup is the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and national champion, and the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
The Raiders see Mendoza as their future. But his rapid progress behind the scenes gave them the confidence to hand him the ball now.
“Fernando has done everything we’ve asked him to do in practice,” coach Klint Kubiak said. “I think he’s exceeded those expectations, and we all know that live bullets Sunday is far different from practice. However, he showed us that he’s ready, not only physically but mentally.”
Consider what the Raiders are asking him to replace. Cousins completed 64.1 percent of his passes for 2,340 yards, with eight interceptions and a 97.1 passer rating. Minnesota was 6-2 despite ranking 31st in passing offense. You can understand why the Vikings wanted him back. Those same numbers tell you what the Raiders are risking by letting him go.
What eased their minds was how much of Mendoza’s preparation they could see once he stepped into the practice huddle. His teammates could see it, too.
“He’s up there studying right now like he would any other game,” Kubiak said on Tuesday afternoon. “He puts a lot of work in. His teammates know how prepared he is. It’s not just lip service, but he has shown it on the practice field.”
The Raiders always expected the No. 1 pick to get here. The question was whether he’d get here in time to help a team that still has something to play for. With the defending champion Seahawks coming to town Sunday, Spytek made clear what he expects of the rookie and everyone around him.
“We have a big game this week against the defending world champs, and we intend to attack it like we would any week,” Spytek said. “That’s expected of us. That’s expected from ownership, from Raider Nation, from this entire building, and we want to make sure that that’s noted.”
As for the idea that trading Cousins amounted to waving a white flag, Spytek wanted Raiders fans and everyone in the building to hear him on that one.
“This in no way signifies that we are punting on this season or looking forward to 2027,” he said. “That is not the intention of this.”
