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John Spytek: Having Kirk Cousins will help coaches sleep a little better at night
Apr 15, 2026Myles SimmonsPro Football Talk
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The Raiders signed Kirk Cousins to be a veteran leader at quarterback, someone who can help establish how the team would like its offense to work under new head coach Klint Kubiak. While Las Vegas is highly likely to select Fernando Mendoza at No. 1 overall next week, the team would like to make sure Mendoza is ready before he ascends into the starting lineup. Asked about what Cousins brings to the team on Tuesday, General Manager John Spytek noted that the club can’t have enough good players in the QBs room. “Well, he's played really good football in this league for a long time, and he went through, obviously, a challenging time early in his career, ends up in the same draft class as the second overall pick, and somehow he comes out of that on top,” Spytek said, via transcript from the team. “He's been able to do what he's done at different stops along the way. There's a high level of maturity there. “There's an understanding of Klint's offense that I think will help Aidan [O'Connell] and any other quarterbacks that join the group. He's won, he's hard working, he's detailed, he's smart, he's been a great teammate places he's been. … Just anytime you have a veteran quarterback in a room that's played at a high level that you believe can still play well and play at a high level, I think that helps everybody — especially the coaching staff will sleep a little better at night.” Cousins has said that he feels like Mendoza will be “a great addition to the room” and is willing to support the young QB to the degree that he can. Last season, Cousins appeared in 10 games with eight starts for the Falcons, completing 61.7 percent of his passes for 1,721 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions.