He just Leaked the Truth...

The Raiders just traded Kirk Cousins to the Minnesota Vikings in return for a 2027 third round pick. He had 20 touchdown passes, second most in the NFL this season. So some from the outside looking in that the Raiders were looking to cash in and trade this player and get some type of asset back for him in a quote unquote lost season. Quote, I never made one call on Kirk Cousins. And that quote comes from. General Manager John Spytek today after the trade deadline. He got a few phone calls but only one real one and that came this morning from the Vikings. He also says that he never spoke to Cousins about a trade because before Tuesday the plan was that there was no plan to trade him. They were not going to speak about it. And the plan was they were going to ride it out. So the GM did not go looking for a move. The Vikings came looking for a trade. The quarterback never really saw it coming, even though we knew it was coming to a head at some point. But there's some more interesting key details that have been released on why this happened and why exactly? Well, Spytek gave us some very interesting insights into what they're thinking right now and what the future looks like with. Fernando Mendoza and an interesting tidbit on Max Crosby. So the only real conversation they had was the Vikings that sent the only substantial offer and Spitek says that he never put out a single feeler. A week ago, nobody knew what the offer would look like. You know, what are you willing to pay for Kirk Cousins was the question on November 4th that everyone was asking. At that point in time, Cousins had 2,124 yards and 19 touchdown passes through eight. And Cousins, through this trade, returns to Minnesota for a playoff push, while Las Vegas turns to the number one overall pick from 2026, Fernando Mendoza. The Raiders lost their last game 38-17 at San Francisco on Sunday and fell to 4-5 on the season. Kirk Cousins still threw a touchdown pass in that game, his ninth straight game with one, and a season best. So ultimately, it did make some sense to move off this player knowing you had Mendoza waiting and knowing you could get an asset like a third round pick in next year's draft. for this player and a third is still a really good asset recouped for Kirk Cousins and you can see that Raider Dylan was even saying that that's exactly what they needed to do and the thought throughout majority of the fan base is that this was absolutely a good trade. A lot of people are saying credit to Spytek for pulling this off for pulling the trigger now because they were going to have to move off of them in the offseason anyway but now it opens the door. Mendoza to step into the spotlight on Monday. Kubiak said that Cousins had been an extremely solid decision maker all season. And when talking about making decisions, Minnesota has not been known for making good decisions. And their problem really showed up on Monday with a 23 to six loss to Buffalo and talks with the Raiders completely sparked up right after that Kyler Murray had 1022 passing yards and five touchdown passes for the Vikings this season with a passing EPA of minus ten Carson Wentz, 357 yards, three touchdown passes and an EPA of minus 19. That is eight touchdown passes that both of them have combined for. Whereas on the other side of things in the player that they traded for had 20 with the Raiders. So Spy Tech wasn't necessarily setting a price before everyone makes it out to be that this was the plan the whole time. I think Kirk Cousins was a great mentor and a great piece and Spy Tech handled this whole situation. beautifully. But all of that and all the numbers and the fact that it makes sense for Minnesota, why exactly did they pull the trigger? What is waiting in the wings? Quote, we are staring the future in the face here with Fernando. And Kirk was very open with that when we got him. And that was Spy Tech today in the press conference after the trade deadline. Then he laid out the decision. So you could either go forward for the rest of the eight games with Kirk Cousins and try to make the playoffs, or you can turn the attention to Take what Minnesota was offering and. Start to push Mendoza into the spotlight. And his answer was pretty short. He said, ultimately, we thought about it and we decided to do just that. Kirk Cousins was apparently very open with this whole situation as well. And according to multiple reports, it sounds like he knew this may be coming. So this wasn't necessarily a shock to him either. Clint Kubiak said that we all knew that this day was coming. We just didn't know exactly when it was going to be. But I think a lot of people had an idea, especially after Monday. That this was the exact move that was going to go down. And two weeks ago, on October 26, Kubiak said that Mendoza, there was a plan for him. And they could not talk specifics on timeline, but we now have a timeline. And the timeline was set in motion by one phone call from the Minnesota Vikings trading for Kirk Cousins. And just like everyone else, I think, in the fan base, from multiple reports, the Raiders did not blame Kirk Cousins for the losing streak at all. So they had a decision to make. There are eight games left. Seattle. Denver, Cleveland versus the Chargers, which hopefully is a win. Denver, Tennessee, Arizona, and Kansas City. And that is the choice that Spytek had to weigh and something that he described as well. You can run the rest of the eight games, the rest of the season with a veteran presence, with a four and five team, or you could see what you have in your number one quarterback now, your former first overall pick. Right now that you were going to give the ball to at some point later this season anyway. And the deal also takes Cousins salary again off the books for the Raiders. He was due $10 million in 2027 and Mendoza's cap hit is 10.4 this season and then climbs next season. Of course, he was going to be the starter next year anyway to 18.2. And from all reports and what we've heard, that's the roster that they're building towards anyway, to pay and to thrust this new star into the spotlight in Fernando Mendoza. It is his team now. And a lot of people are talking about how getting rid of Kirk Cousins money now and opening the door for Mendoza now while still getting a third round pick and a loaded draft, a top 100 100 pick is good work and other people are saying that. John Spitek couldn't have managed this any better that it was a clean exit and now you can really see what you were going to see in a few weeks anyway. Now before we get into what they said about Mendoza what his role is going to be and what the future of this entire organization looks like if you guys are enjoying the content every single day make sure to go down below and hit that free subscribe button. I'm going to continue to bring you guys daily content on everything that's happening with the Las Vegas Raiders and we just hit 4,000 subscribers. Thank you so much for the support here on the channel, guys. It's been unbelievable so far, and we're well on our way to our new goal of 5,000 subscribers. Thank you once again, and let's get back into what the plan is for Mendoza. He's prepared. That's what Clint Kubiak had to say about Mendoza's work habits, and that is what allowed them to be able to trade Kirk Cousins. He went on to compare the two quarterbacks, and he was talking about their work habits, their preparation, how they take care of their bodies, and how they connect with their teammates both on and off the field. And in the spring, the message and tone was a little bit different around Mendoza. He said, ideally, you don't want him to start from day one. So what changed in that time? They saw somebody mentor him. They saw him learning. They saw him progress over the last nine weeks. And now the coaches are saying he's ready. Matt Zenitz was also talking about how from multiple sources, apparently he is slicing and dicing and tearing it up in practice. This is something that he's worked very hard for since the moment he walked through those doors. And that's what Clint Kubiak had to say about Mendoza at the press conference after the deadline. And then John Spitek, the GM, made it official. Fernando Mendoza is the new number one starting quarterback of the Raiders. The Mendoza era has begun. For those of you who maybe don't know much about the Raiders or want a quick refresher, Mendoza was the first overall pick in the 2026 draft and the Raiders took him to be the quarterback they build this team around. And now his first NFL start is going to come Sunday against the defending. Superbowl champions, Seattle Seahawks. Now it is his NFL starting debut, but he has had NFL experience in the past. So he had eight passes and 48 yards late in a 45 to 17 loss to new England on October 11th of this season with a passing EPA of 1.2. So what is actually expected of Mendoza as he kicks off his career really in the NFL? Will Spytek shut down one thing in particular? He said this trade and what happened today is in no way to signify that we are punting on the season or looking forward to next year. There is also quote a lot of internal optimism within the Raiders organization that he is very much ready. For this opportunity and ready to take it by the horns. He expects Mendoza to come in, apply what he has learned, use the skill that he has, and compete. And the Raiders are still actually in a really good spot. They're third in the AFC West and three games behind the 7-2 Broncos. After the Seattle game, against a pretty banged up Seattle team as well, he goes to Denver on November 22nd and then to Cleveland on November 29th. Now, I think for most people, the bar is pretty low while there is excitement. But, you know, compete, show that you belong, apply what you've learned. And I think a lot of fans are going to be happy. So I think the bar is somewhat low, but just show up, compete, work hard, apply what you've learned and let the staff see what you have. And the goal isn't to save the season himself. It's to look like he has taken steps and looks like he can usher in a new era and lead this team in the future. And speaking of applying what you've learned and the mentorship and all that stuff we've been talking about, in June, Kirk Cousins said that the mentor label was, quote, a bit of a reach. Max Crosby was talking about his leadership qualities and said that Cousins is, quote, one of the funnier dudes you'll ever meet. And Cousins' departing message on Instagram, passing the mantle to Mendoza, was just simply go get them. And we've talked about it time and time again, and Kubiak said it as well, that Cousins was the perfect role model. For Mendoza, he had nine games behind one of the game's best passers and the coaching staff thinks that it worked and he will be better for it and he is now ready for this moment. And since we're talking about the truth slowly coming out and certain details being revealed and the plan moving forward, there was one player's name that kept coming up in trade rumors as well and that wasn't Kirk Cousins. According to multiple reports heading into the trade deadline, the Raiders took calls over the last few weeks about Max Crosby, and the answer was he isn't being moved. There was some thought in the late hours before the trade deadline that things could change with Cousins being traded, but Crosby is a Raider and the future with Mendoza starts now. And Brandi Flores asked John Spitek about that specifically because it did get lost in the craziness of trading Kirk Cousins, and he said, quote, we got a lot of calls on a lot of our. And then he simply said, we say no a lot more than we say yes. So that is the truth behind the Crosby rumors. The trade deadline has come and gone. The phone was ringing for a lot of really good players on the Raiders, but the answer on Crosby was no, we're going to continue to build with him. He signed a three-year extension at $106.5 million in March of 2025. And in October of 2025, the Raiders already said that they were not going to trade him, but then we all know what happened. But leading into today, all signs were that he was not going to be traded. He wanted to be here. The organization would rather keep him. And that ended up being true. And Spytek's whole answer was that they're always going to make the best decision for the Raiders team and organization. And that is what they did today. Crosby has five tackles for loss, third on the team and has won. in four straight games. Crosby also has the most sacks on the team with four this season. And on November 4th, he said it himself, I love being a Raider. This is where I want to be. And that's pretty significant because a defensive end on a contract that large is probably where you look to start selling off if you're looking to do a complete rebuild again. Or do a bit of a reset. And Spytek said, no, we're going to continue to build on what we have here. We feel like we have something special that's continuing to grow. So where does this leave the team heading into Sunday? Because things have certainly changed. And the offense has changed. I think that this was a good trade. I think this was actually not only necessary, but going to happen anyway. And in a couple of weeks, you might've just been sitting with no third round pick and Mendoza playing anyway. The future was already here with Mendoza. He just needed a little bit of experience. He needed a little bit of mentorship. He's got that. Now he needs to actually be put in those situations to gain that experience. Crosby staying also signals that we are not collapsing. We are not punting this season. We are going to try and compete the best that we can. And Sunday is the first test for Mendoza and this new look. offense. So the defending champions at home, it's going to be really exciting to see what this new era is going to bring in. I'm going to be watching for the first drive, obviously. That's going to be exciting. The red zone and who he trusts and who he defers to. So does Mendoza win his first NFL start? Let me know in the comments how you feel below. Yes or no. Comment down below. Will he win? Won't he win? And let me know why. But guys, that is the truth behind why Kirk Cousins was traded, what the plan is for Fernando Mendoza, the truth behind the trade rumors with Max Crosby. But my name is Darius Dominguez. This is Raiders Digest. And guys, I'll see you in the next video.