The Las Vegas Raiders entered the offseason with the goal of starting a new era of football and preparing the roster for a #1 overall pick to take over at quarterback. With the top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Raiders are projected to select Fernando Mendoza, and unlike other teams in the past, they plan on not rushing the young QB into the starting spot.
The idea of getting a veteran to let Mendoza sit and learn is a very smart idea, and has worked when teams have done it. Today, the Raiders found a veteran QB, signing Kirk Cousins, but at first glance, the deal is shocking and confusing.
Kirk Cousins signs 5-year deal with the Las Vegas Raiders
First, the Cousins signing made sense for all parties involved. Klint Kubiak would have a fine starting quarterback in his first year as head coach, Cousins would be a starter in the league again, and Mendoza would be able to sit, learn, and develop.
What makes less sense is the contract, which, according to Adam Schefter, is a 5-year, $172M deal.
Comp update: Kirk Cousins will sign a five-year, $172 million deal with the Raiders that in reality is a one-year, fully-guaranteed $20 million deal that also contains a club option for two years at $80M.
The Falcons will pay Cousins $8.7 million this season, the Raiders another… pic.twitter.com/MHYqOOfBs7
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 2, 2026
In reality, this deal is actually much less than the reported first number. The Raiders basically gave Cousins a one-year deal that guarantees the veteran QB $20M. The Atlanta Falcons will be paying Cousins, who they released this offseason, $8.7M, while Las Vegas pays him $1.3M this season and a $10M roster bonus next offseason.
Realistically, even with the 2-year $80M option available, Cousins will be on the roster for this season as a bridge QB/backup. The reason for the 5-year length is the void years added at the end to spread out the money paid to Cousins.
If this does end up being a 1-year deal, that’s perfectly fine. In PFSN’s QB Impact metric, Cousins was the 30th-ranked quarterback in the league last season.
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At this point in his career, Cousins is not going to lead teams to wins, but he can be a fine backup QB who can start until a rookie, such as Mendoza, is ready.
Before the deal, Cousins’ net worth $180M, and as of now, the annual salary from this deal has not been released.
