The 2026 NFL Trade Deadline has been a wild one, and while the Denver Broncos, at this point, have not made a move, other teams are doing just that. The Broncos sit at 7-2 and have every reason to make a big-time splash, but they might feel comfortable continuing on with their own guys.
One of the biggest moves at the deadline came when the Las Vegas Raiders traded quarterback Kirk Cousins to the Minnesota Vikings, a team he had previously played for. Minnesota's defense is top tier, so getting a competent QB in the mix does help the Vikings greatly.
And, as for the Raiders, moving on from Cousins after nine games does pave the way for rookie QB and first overall pick Fernando Mendoza to enter the mix, and this impacts the Broncos big-time.
The Denver Broncos will now likely see rookie QB Fernando Mendoza twice this year
With Cousins at QB, the Raiders were actually a competent team, ranking 8th in points scored per game with 26.4 points per contest. Cousins has 20 touchdown passes against eight inerceptions this year and sported a 97.1 passer rating, playing every bit like a top-12 QB. To be honest, this is a great thing that the Broncos won't have to deal with Cousins, as he was having a bit of a career revival with Las Vegas.
Enter, Mendoza. The Raiders first overall pick is going to make his first starts in the NFL against the Seattle Seahawks at home and against the Broncos at Mile High. Sure, Mendoza might pan out - he does have a skillset that falls in line with players like Cousins, Joe Burrow, and Jared Goff. He is a legitimate pocket passer with sound accuracy and strong processing, but that doesn't mean anything.
For the Broncos, this team is obviously trying to win it all this year, and each game matters, so going from Cousins to Mendoza for two games does greatly increase this team's chance in each game, perhaps even coming close to a guaranteed win.
All in all, this is a huge win for the Broncos at the right time. Denver's schedule was still on the easier side even with a Cousins trade not happening, but with Mendoza now likely stepping into the starting role, Denver can hopefully tee-off on a rookie QB in a Super Bowl-caliber season.
The Broncos will now likely face the following QBs the rest of the season, in order:
-Fernando Mendoza
-Aaron Rodgers
-Malik Willis
-Geno Smith
-Fernando Mendoza
-Josh Allen
-Drake Maye
-Justin Herbert
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