The Las Vegas Raiders decided on Nov. 10 to trade Kirk Cousins to the Minnesota Vikings for a 2027 third-round pick. Furthermore, this decision allows the Silver and Black to kickstart the Fernando Mendoza era.
Cousins allowed Mendoza to spend half of the season learning and preparing for this moment. Having the veteran to learn from allowed the No. 1 pick from this year’s draft to have a mentor when it comes to learning head coach Klint Kubiak’s offense and being a leader for an NFL team.
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.
Nonetheless, with the veteran now gone, former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski shared his thoughts on the Raiders decision to trade Cousins.
“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.”
Rob Gronkowski Is Fan of Transition to Fernando Mendoza
Furthermore, Gronkowski is a fan of how Las Vegas handled this transition from Cousins to Mendoza, given that they didn’t throw the No. 1 pick from this year’s draft to the wolves before he was even ready.
“They couldn’t have played this any more perfectly,” Gronkowski added. “I love how they sat Fernando as well. I hate when they just throw these quarterbacks in the mix right away, then their confidence goes down. There’s so much to learn at the quarterback position. It’s just too much to handle as a rookie right out the gate. And now he gets to learn behind Kirk Cousins.
“He’s got to study the playbook. He’s got to build up that connection in practice and throughout training camp. And also, he had that little spurt against the New England Patriots when he went in during the fourth quarter to get his feet wet. So it’s Fernando Mendoza time. It’s go time.”
Raiders GM Has Strong Message After Kirk Cousins Trade
Despite the Raiders trading away Cousins and going with their rookie QB, general manager John Spytek sent a clear message to the team and fanbase as Las Vegas sits at 4-5 ahead of their Week 10 game.
“This is for Raider Nation and this entire building: This in no way signifies that we are punting on this season or looking ahead to 2027,” Spytek said at his press conference with the media. “That is not the intention.
“We have a big game this week against the defending world champions, and we intend to attack it like we would any other week. That’s expected of us, from ownership, from Raider Nation, and from this entire building. We want to make sure that’s clearly stated.”
Rob Gronkowski Gives True Thoughts on Raiders Trading Kirk Cousins