Here we are in mid-March and the Las Vegas Raiders \u2014 rightfully so \u2014 aren\u2019t disclosing their 2026 NFL Draft plans. Not without the yearly event taking place at the tail end of April.<\/p>\n
The Silver & Black own the No. 1 overall selection in this year\u2019s event and, as you can imagine, during his stay at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, general manager John Spytek was asked frequently what he intends to do with the top pick. The questions surround around Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, pegged by many as the presumptive No. 1 overall selection<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cNot right now, it\u2019s not,\u201d Spytek answered when the CBS Sports\u2019 panel asked him if it was that simple to peg in Mendoza as the first pick<\/a>. \u201cMaybe sometime in early April it will be. I truly mean we\u2019re going to go about this process the right way and don\u2019t want to rush this.\u201d<\/p>\n Spytek and his crew are doing due diligence this early into the draft process but getting the quarterback spot solidified for his rookie head coach Klint Kubiak is vital.<\/p>\n Gone is veteran Geno Smith (traded to the New York Jets) and the coaching staff that adored the signal caller.<\/p>\n And it would be quite the surprise if the Raiders don\u2019t take Mendoza on Thursday, April 23 \u2014 the day the 2026 draft occurs.<\/p>\n When free agency opened last week, the rumor mill began churning about Las Vegas\u2019 quarterback position, namely the team eyeing a veteran quarterback to bolster the group<\/a>. And for good reason.<\/p>\n Kubiak is a renowned architect and orchestrator of an offense coming off the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl victory, however, the Raiders cupboard at signal caller is bare as bare can get. Aidan O\u2019Connell, who enters Year 4 and will turn 28 on September 1, is the lone quarterback currently on the Raiders\u2019 roster. And that should change in the near future.<\/p>\n There are two experienced veterans on the open market that fit the mold the Raiders are reportedly seeking in Kirk Cousins and Joe Flacco.<\/p>\n Cousins, who was released by the Atlanta Falcons as a post-June 1 designation, is 37 (38 on August 19) and has a connection with Kubiak as the Raiders head coach was Cousins\u2019 quarterbacks coach (2019-20) and offensive coordinator (2021) for the Minnesota Vikings.<\/p>\n Flacco, who is on the market after being with the Cincinnati Bengals, is the older of the two at 41 but has a Kubiak connection of his own \u2014 Klint\u2019s father Gary, who served as the Baltimore Ravens\u2019 offensive coordinator in 2014. Flacco was 29 then and threw for 3,986 yards, 27 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions with the elder Kubiak dialing up the plays.<\/p>\n