KIRKO CHAINZ IS BACK IN MINNESOTA, AND WE FINALLY GET TO SEE FERNANDO MENDOZA START AN NFL GAME.
The Minnesota Vikings have acquired Kirk Cousins from the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for a 2027 third-round pick, and while the reunion in Minnesota is a pretty entertaining story by itself, I’m more excited about what this means for the Raiders. After nine games of watching their No. 1 overall pick sit behind Cousins, Las Vegas is finally handing the offense over to Fernando Mendoza.
And THANK GOD, because I’ve been waiting to see this kid get an actual opportunity.
Fernando Mendoza Finally Gets His First NFL Start
Look, I completely understood why the Raiders wanted Mendoza to sit behind a veteran quarterback. The kid was coming off a Heisman-winning season and a national championship at Indiana, and there’s nothing wrong with giving a rookie some time to develop before throwing him into an NFL offense. Especially when the guy ahead of him is playing pretty damn well.
Cousins had thrown for 2,340 yards and 20 touchdowns through nine games, so it’s not like Las Vegas was keeping Mendoza on the bench to play some washed-up veteran who couldn’t move the football. Kirk was doing his job, and the Raiders were sitting at 4-5 despite entering the season with pretty low expectations.
But at some point, you gotta see what you have.
Mendoza was the first overall pick in the NFL Draft for a reason, and while I wasn’t demanding that he start Week 1, I also didn’t want to spend his entire rookie season wondering what he might look like. His only regular-season action came during a blowout loss to New England, when he completed six of eight passes for 48 yards. That’s hardly enough to tell us anything about the future of the Raiders.
Now he’ll finally get that opportunity, and they’re not exactly giving him an easy introduction. His first start will come against Seattle, followed by a trip to Denver. Welcome to the NFL, kid.
The Vikings Going Back to Kirk Cousins Is Hilarious
The other part of this trade that I can’t get over is Minnesota deciding that the solution to its quarterback problems is the guy it already moved on from two years ago.
The Vikings let Cousins walk in 2024, drafted J.J. McCarthy with the expectation that he’d become their franchise quarterback, and have spent the last couple of seasons trying to figure out who should be running Kevin O’Connell’s offense. After all of that, they’re sending a third-round pick to Las Vegas to bring Cousins back.
That’s the football equivalent of breaking up with somebody, spending two years dating other people, and eventually sending that 1 a.m. “you up?” text.
But honestly, I understand the move. Minnesota has a defense capable of winning games, and its quarterback play has become a legitimate problem. Cousins already knows O’Connell’s offense, has experience with Justin Jefferson, and gives the Vikings a chance to get things moving in the right direction.
It’s Finally Time to See What Mendoza Can Do
For the Raiders, this feels like the right time to make the switch. They got nine games of veteran quarterback play, picked up another draft selection, and now have the opportunity to evaluate the player they hope will be leading their franchise for the next decade.
Does that mean Mendoza is going to come out and immediately look like a superstar? Of course not. He’s a rookie quarterback who hasn’t played meaningful NFL football yet, and there are probably going to be some pretty ugly moments along the way. But that’s part of developing a young quarterback, and I’d much rather watch him work through those mistakes than spend another two months wondering when he’s going to get his chance.
Minnesota gets its quarterback back, Las Vegas gets to move forward with its future, and the rest of us finally get to watch one of the most interesting young quarterbacks in football.
I’m pretty damn excited about that.
