ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that the "Raiders' plan continues to be to play Kirk Cousins as long as possible, and right now, they don't believe he is to blame for their recent struggles after a 3-0 start." Cousins has thrown a league-high 16 TD passes vs. just 5 INTs. His completion rate (62.6%) and yards per pass attempt (7.3) sit below his career rates in both categories but are also up vs. last year's numbers.
Should We Believe It?
The Raiders remain in contention at 3-4 and are reportedly also not planning to trade Edge Maxx Crosby.
Of course, there's a chance "sources" are putting these reports out to try to help the trade values of both veteran players. But there's no reason at the moment to believe that the Raiders are shifting to rebuild mode.
GM John Spytek's in his second season and HC Klint Kubiak his first. Spytek's initial Raiders season failed hard under HC Pete Carroll, so he should be especially motivated to keep this year's version competitive.
2026 Fantasy Football Impact: Keep Cousins in Contention
The only thing that really matters for fantasy purposes is how long Cousins stays in the lineup. There's no reason at the moment to disbelieve the reported plan.
Cousins has played well enough to date, and switching from the veteran to rookie Fernando Mendoza isn't likely to boost the team's playoff chances.
We don't have Cousins projected into starter range for Week 8 despite a non-scary matchup with the Jets because his production has gotten a boost from higher pass volume in trailing game scripts. We're not expecting that kind of game against the Jets.
But Cousins should generally remain in lineup contention at least until we get some indication the Raiders are ready to make the switch.
