The Las Vegas Raiders have a new QB1 as the Fernando Mendoza era is underway after the team decided to trade Kirk Cousins on Nov. 10 to the Minnesota Vikings for a 2027 third-round pick.
Moreover, Mendoza isn’t coming into a team that’s looking toward next season. With the team at 4-5, the Silver and Black are in the playoff hunt, especially if they can pull off a win over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 10, which would put them at 5-5.
Ahead of Mendoza’s first NFL regular-season start, Maxx Crosby spoke to the media and shared an outlook as the No. 1 pick from this year’s draft takes the reins in Las Vegas.
“I think Fernando is going to do incredible, and I love Fernando,” Crosby told reporters on Nov. 12. “He is a great kid; he is going to do an awesome job, and I really do love the way he operates every day [and] he has a smile on his face all the time. He brings joy to the locker room, and I think he is going to do an amazing job.”
Maxx Crosby Gets Blunt on Facing Seahawks
Mendoza will have a challenging task as his first start will be against the Seahawks’ defense, one of the best defensive units in the league, led by head coach Mike Macdonald.
Nonetheless, what will help Mendoza and the Raiders’ defense is that this game will be at home and not at Lumen Field. Crosby spoke about facing the Seahawks and the challenge the reigning Super Bowl champions bring.
“[Seattle] have a lot of really talented guys,” Crosby added. “They got, obviously, JSN, one of the best receivers in the game [and] got a lot of talented weapons across the board; they won the Super Bowl for a reason.
“They’re extremely talented [and] have a great coaching staff. Literally, from top to bottom, they do it at a very high level. So we know we have to be at our best to beat them, and we’re all hands on deck to do that.”
Rob Gronkowski on Raiders’ Decision to Trade Kirk Cousins
With Cousins now gone, former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski shared his thoughts on the Raiders’ decision to trade the veteran QB.
“It threw me off by surprise,” Gronkowski said during a Nov. 11 appearance on “Up & Adams.” “But let me tell you, it totally makes sense all across the board. You have to give it to John Spytek, their general manager. That was one of the best uses of a quarterback in NFL history, Kay. There’s no doubt about that.
“He signed Kirk Cousins to a deal, a relatively cheap deal, and got the most out of him. He led the league in touchdown passes thrown. He’s having a heck of a year, and then boom, he trades him and gets value in return.”
During his brief stint with the Raiders, Cousins had been performing well for the Raiders, recording a passer rating of 97.1 with 2,340 passing yards, 20 touchdowns, and eight interceptions in nine games this season, per StatMuse.
Raiders’ Maxx Crosby Shares Strong QB1 Outlook on Fernando Mendoza