Kirk Cousins officially signed with the Raiders on Monday. Vegas stays on track to pick out Fernando Mendoza first overall within the upcoming draft, but Cousins could begin the 2026 season atop the depth chart.
Slightly than aiming for a full campaign spent in a QB1 role, Cousins elected to hitch quite a few familiar faces on the Raiders’ coaching staff. That features latest head coach Klint Kubiak and other staffers who previously worked with Cousins in Minnesota. A reunion was seen as a selling point on this case, because the four-time Pro Bowler recently noted.
“It starts with the coaching staff,” Cousins said during an interview with the team (video link). “I used to be really excited to work with coaches I’ve worked with before in Klint Kubiak, Rick Dennison, Andrew Janocko. I had a few of my best years fiddling with them… I feel it’s a team that has a variety of young talent and so they’re constructing something special, and I would like to be a component of that.”
Kubiak served because the Vikings’ quarterbacks coach in 2019 and ’20 before spending the next season because the team’s offensive coordinator. That span overlapped with Cousins’ Minnesota stint, and it was followed by 4 straight one-year tenures across the league. Kubiak, 39, thrived as Seattle’s OC in 2025 and helped lead the team to a Super Bowl title. The play of quarterback Sam Darnold helped his head coaching stock and raised expectations regarding the event of Mendoza as he acclimates to the NFL.
Janocko (the Raiders’ latest offensive coordinator) worked with the Seahawks as their QBs coach in 2025, making it no surprise when he followed Kubiak to Vegas. Janocko also frolicked in Minnesota earlier in his profession, serving in quite a few roles from 2015-21. Dennison, too, overlapped with Cousins on the Vikings’ staff and was also a member of Seattle’s group this past season. He’ll work as Vegas’ offensive line coach in 2026.
Cousins is due $10MM guaranteed for the approaching season, and his Raiders pact incorporates one other $10MM in locked-in money in the shape of a roster bonus early within the 2027 league 12 months. His future beyond that time is unclear, but for now the veteran is ready to spend the offseason reuniting with several coaches he has previously worked with.