NFL Network’s Kurt Warner on Kirk Cousins’ Role on the Raiders This Season

Kirk Cousins signed with the Las Vegas Raiders knowing the franchise was likely to spend a high pick on a young quarterback, and Hall of Famer Kurt Warner walked through what the veteran has almost certainly been told about the pecking order on a recent visit to The Rich Eisen Show.

The Raiders' general manager John Spytek told the show on Monday that the quarterback room would operate on a may-the-best-man-win basis, with Fernando Mendoza widely projected as the team's first-round target. Warner, who lived a near-identical scenario when he went from the Rams to the Giants ahead of the Eli Manning pick, told Rich the situation should serve both quarterbacks if it is framed honestly from day one.

"I'm a believer that you start young guys, you should start young guys when they're ready," Warner said. "Don't force them into action before they're ready, because we've seen too many guys that get swallowed up by this league because they're trying to survive and they haven't had a chance to grow and learn and be in a position to truly thrive at this level."

Warner argued that the Clint Kubiak offense, with its play-action concepts, naked bootlegs, and pure progression reads, is not a barrier for a rookie who has lived in college spread systems. "His offense, they love to run play action and the naked bootleg game, which to me is pretty simple," Warner said. "It simplifies things down where you don't have to see the whole field."

Where Warner leaned on personal experience was the mindset Cousins should carry into camp. "I'm going to be better than Fernando is just like I was better than Eli was in that process," Warner said of his own approach in New York, suggesting Cousins will compete for every start he can get while still mentoring the rookie behind him.

Rich pointed out that the Shanahan family tree, which Kubiak grew out of, has long paid fealty to Cousins as the prototype for what the offense wants at the position, giving the veteran a real runway to win the job out of camp.

Warner closed with the caveat that ends every quarterback bridge year: if the team starts losing, the calculus flips. "That's when you start really thinking about, is it better just to cut ties with the veteran now, get our young guy in, take our lumps," Warner said, pointing to the Giants two years out as the model the Raiders may eventually follow.