Head coach Klint Kubiak of the Las Vegas Raiders Getty
Fernando Mendoza #15 of the Las Vegas Raiders Getty
After a week of making the final tweaks to the roster and officially naming veteran newcomer Kirk Cousins the team's starting quarterback for Week 1, the Las Vegas Raiders can begin preparing for the start of the upcoming season, where they'll play host to the Miami Dolphins right out of the gate at Allegiant Stadium.
With the 53-man roster finalized, the debate has begun about what this new-look Raiders roster can do in the 2026 NFL season, with part-owner Tom Brady hoping to finally have some success in Las Vegas.
GettyHead coach Klint Kubiak of the Las Vegas Raiders
After going through a revolving door of veteran quarterbacks over the past few years since the departure of Derek Carr, the Raiders might finally have a bright future at the position, with the team getting the chance to develop No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza.
Fortunately for the franchise and Mendoza himself, the Raiders have one of the mentors the rookie could have in arguably the greatest player ever at the position, Brady.
Apparently, Brady played a big part in the moves the team made this offseason, with new Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak saying in Wednesday's press conference that they leaned on the seven-time Super Bowl champion for "a lot of things" during the process of figuring out the quarterback position.
"We leaned on him for a lot of things," Kubiak said of Brady. "Talked to him multiple times a week, and he's been extremely helpful for roster building, for schematics, for team building. You name it, he's been helpful with it, more than helpful, and an extremely impressive resource."
As Kubiak said, Brady is an "extremely impressive resource," and it seems as though both sides don't have a problem reaching out to one another to get this team on the right track heading into the 2026 campaign.
GettyFernando Mendoza #15 of the Las Vegas Raiders
With Cousins getting the nod over Mendoza to start the season, Kubiak was asked about the rookie being the backup, even though it is the first time since 2018 ( Baker Mayfield ) that a No. 1 overall pick quarterback will not start Week 1.
"I think there's so many examples both ways," Kubiak said. "I think the most important thing with the quarterback room or any other position is to build competition within the room, and that makes players so much better, faster than coaching. When they have a guy in front of them that they can look up to, and they can see how something's done, it's going to accelerate their growth."
Fortunately for Mendoza, he's got the ideal mentor on the field with Cousins and off of it with Brady, so he's in a perfect situation to develop quickly, even though he'll be watching from the sideline to start his playing career in the NFL.
It'll be interesting to see how things pan out for the Raiders at the quarterback position and whether Mendoza will be holding a clipboard for very long if Cousins struggles in the first few weeks of the 2026 season.
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