The Las Vegas Raiders are 2-0 and could be looking at a 3-0 start if they can get a road win in Week 3 against the New Orleans Saints. Nonetheless, with starting QBs getting injured, speculation about who will be available leading up to the trade deadline is growing.
Las Vegas are winning with veteran QB Kirk Cousins, who showed in Week 2 that he can beat teams if the opponent decides to take away the running game. Still, his future with the Silver and Black is short-term, and these next few weeks could decide whether Cousins stays for the entire season or, at the very least, the Raiders listen to offers.
The Ringer’s NFL insider Tom Pelissero shared an outlook on Cousins’ future.
“The one that’ll be really interesting will be Kirk Cousins,” Pelissero said in a Sept. 25 video from The Ringer. “He’s playing at a good level right now. He’s on sort of a one-year contract, but it actually has a tail on it where the Raiders have an exclusive window next March to either cut him or trade him or potentially pick up his option. So they’ve got time to kind of play this thing out.
“What the Raiders are gonna have to decide is, are you willing to trade him if 2-0 becomes like 3-1 or 4-2? Now the schedule gets a lot harder from this point moving forward, but let’s say they’re still in it and like Mark Davis is celebrating his sweep because he has a relevant football team for the first time in five years. Maxx Crosby’s all fired up on the sideline. Like, do you really do it?”
Las Vegas Will Go With Kirk Cousins as Long as They Can
However, Pelissero notes that he expects the Raiders to ride with Cousins until the wheels fall off, but we won’t know whether that happens before or after the trade deadline until the time comes.
“They’re gonna ride with Kirk as long as they’re alive or until his play takes a dip,” Pelissero added. “But if you get that opportunity and someone offers you, let’s say, a third-round pick for Kirk Cousins, I don’t know if you can get that, but somebody gets hurt and he’s available for not a whole lot of money, that would make a ton of sense.
“So that’ll be one that’ll be dictated by circumstances, but I would absolutely not rule out the possibility of Kirk Cousins being traded during the season.”
After the Saints game, the Raiders have the Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, and Los Angeles Rams. This stretch of games could determine what they decide.
Could the Raiders Add to Team Around the Trade Deadline?
Speaking of potential trades, if the Raiders remain in the playoff picture leading up to the Nov. 10 deadline, then they might look to add. Recently, Noah Olson of Browns on SI sees the Silver and Black as a potential trade destination for Cleveland Browns veteran wideout Jerry Jeudy.
“Jeudy still has plenty of talent and time left in the NFL,” Olson wrote in a Sept. 22 article. “Luckily for the Browns, that mix can be appealing to a wide receiver-needy team. Teams like the Raiders and Dolphins, potentially even the Bills if DJ Moore’s shoulder injury lingers, may all look to add another receiver to their roster before the Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, trade deadline.”
Insider Gives Significant Trade Outlook on Raiders’ Kirk Cousins