Graney: Raiders not punting season? Kirk Cousins trade is about future

It was a great decision. One the Las Vegas Raiders needed to make.

They got from Kirk Cousins everything they bargained for and more, and trading him to Minnesota for a third-round pick on Tuesday was the next plausible step in rebuilding for the future.

Sure. It’s the R word. It’s one general manager John Spytek and coach Klint Kubiak apparently don’t like to use (at least publicly), but it’s an obvious one to attach the organization now that they will hand the offense over to a rookie quarterback.

Look. Rebuilds don’t need to take five years. This could all be about next season, for goodness’ sake. But in trading Cousins and elevating No. 1 overall draft pick Fernando Mendoza to a starter’s role, the Raiders took the next step in planning a long-term vision from which to be a consistently contending franchise.

And there’s nothing wrong with that. It should be this way.

It’s why you signed Cousins in the first place. Not to force Mendoza into a situation for which he wasn’t prepared.

To look down the road.

Not punting?

“This (trade) in no way signifies we are punting on the season or looking forward to 2027,” Spytek said. “That’s not our intention. We have a big game this week against the defending world champs (in the Seattle Seahawks), and we intend to attack it like we would any week.

“That’s expected of us. That’s expected from ownership, from Raider Nation, from this entire building, and we want to make sure that that’s noted and said.”

Then they better start competing with good teams a whole lot more than they have thus far.

And there are plenty of them left on the schedule.

Of course, Spytek said there’s no looking forward. It’s the message you send to players. They live to win every day.

It’s what you have to say.

But in the middle of a season they just traded away their starting quarterback who had played some great football to make a rookie the guy. There are no lines to read between here.

And, again, this was the correct move.

“Well, we had to make a hard decision,” Spytek said. “And I mean, we’re all kind of staring the future in the face here with Fernando. … We had to basically decide, do we want to go forward here over the last eight games, or do we want to take what Minnesota is offering right now? Ultimately, we decided to do that.”

Cousins likely wasn’t returning next season, meaning the Raiders only ended up paying him $650,000 for an entire summer and training camp and nine NFL games of mentoring Mendoza. It also frees them up $10 million for next year.

Talk about a great deal.

They must believe Mendoza is ready. They sure sounded like it Tuesday. The quarterback should also be forever thankful to Cousins for bringing him along — not every rookie at the most important position has been as fortunate — and teaching him the ins and outs of being a professional. Among other things.

“Work habits, preparation, ways to take care of your body, ways to connect with your teammates, progressions, blitzes to expect, things you can expect from coordinators,” Kubiak said. “We could go on and on.

“There’s a lot more to playing the position than what your coaches tell you in your meeting room, and I think Kirk embodied all the right things there (for Mendoza).”

You knew this was coming. Cousins did. Mendoza did. And it’s more than a credit to the former for how he handled things. Cousins is a 38-year-old veteran. Has been through this before. Not much he hasn’t seen or done in the NFL. He knew the deal when signing with the Raiders.

And he did everything possible to prepare Mendoza for the moment.

A 4-5 team

You never know what a season might bring. The Raiders are 4-5. There is no reason to purposely punt on anything. Guys still want to win every game and prepare to do so.

But make no mistake, this move is about the future more than anything. It’s time for Fernando Mendoza. It’s time to see what the Raiders might look like now and in the years to come.

It’s the next obvious step with the R word.

“Yeah, well, you don’t sit there and put a governor on him,” Kubiak said regarding Mendoza. “We have expectations for him to play at a high level. Yes, when you play your first NFL game, there’s going to be ups and downs, but that’s why he’s one-eleventh part of the operation. He’s got to rely on his teammates, and he’s got to do his job.”

Know this: Kirk Cousins did his far better than most initially imagined. Mendoza is the beneficiary.

It was a great decision. One the Raiders needed to make.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at [email protected]. Follow @edgraney on X.