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The Las Vegas Raiders are starting over yet again, but this time around may well prove different from prior resets. The man donning the headsets, Klint Kubiak, is a rookie head coach, but he’s considered an innovative offensive mind in the mold of a long string of successful hires leaguewide from that side of the ball over the last decade. Kubiak gets the opportunity to begin this new stage in his professional journey with the first overall pick in the draft, which was aptly invested in Heisman-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza. The Raiders also smartly availed themselves of a “bridge” veteran option to help ease Mendoza’s transition to the pro game, bringing on perhaps the ideal candidate for such a role in Kirk Cousins.
A highly accomplished veteran who boasts seven 4,000-yard seasons on his long NFL resume, Cousins came aboard with a textbook approach for the task at hand, namely, holding down the fort until Mendoza is deemed ready to step into the fray. There will be some elite skill-position assets around the quarterback position as well — Ashton Jeanty, who found his way to 1,321 scrimmage yards in his rookie 2025 campaign despite playing on a mostly incompetent offense, and Brock Bowers, who should be back at full strength after battling a knee issue throughout the 2025 campaign.
The defense was also a significant albatross in 2025, but the Raiders did anything but stand pat this offseason. All of Kwity Paye, Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker were brought into the fold to remake the linebackers corps, and Maxx Crosby, who saw a trade to the Ravens nixed due to a failed physical, rounds out a foursome that could turn into one of the league’s better groups at the position as the season unfolds. The secondary got an upgrade as well, as veteran slot cornerback Taron Johnson was obtained via trade from the Bills to help shore up a unit that yielded a very respectable 201.0 passing yards per game last season.
2026 Las Vegas Raiders Super Bowl Odds
The Super Bowl should at least privately be the farthest thing from the Raiders’ minds entering 2026, as the team has lacked a foundation for any type of serious postseason run for some time. Las Vegas is appropriately sporting five-digit odds in the Super Bowl Winner market, ahead of only the Jets, Browns, Dolphins and Cardinals. The team’s bleak prospects begin with the extremely difficult division it plays in — already a significant deterrent to even a winning record before factoring in a questionable receiving corps and the plethora of new faces on defense — not to mention what will likely be uneven quarterback play whether it’s Cousins or Mendoza under center.
Bet: No
2026 Las Vegas Raiders AFC Championship Odds
There will be a running theme throughout these bets as we take an unvarnished assessment of the Raiders’ short-term fortunes, and this Conference Winner market is one such example. Kubiak’s crew will likely have a difficult enough time recording a division victory, much less mounting a challenge to some of the other top teams in the conference outside the AFC West. For many of the reasons outlined in the Super Bowl Winner market overview, this bet is also a no-go.
Bet: No
2026 Las Vegas Raiders AFC West Odds
As we tunnel down the futures hierarchy, the Raiders’ odds get a bit shorter. However, given the fact it resides in a shark-infested AFC West populated by the Chiefs, Broncos and Chargers, Las Vegas’ outlook here is essentially just as bleak. The only one of the four division teams sporting four-digit odds in this market, the Raiders as presently constituted simply don’t have a path to a division title. That’s not to say Las Vegas won’t be playing it’s best football by season’s end — it almost certainly will — and that they won’t perhaps trip up a division opponent or two, but cellar-dweller status is virtually guaranteed for 2026.
Bet: No
2026 Las Vegas Raiders Win Total Odds
Despite last season’s 3-14 record, the Raiders aren’t exactly being gifted a cakewalk of a 2026 schedule. In addition to their very tough six division games, Las Vegas will also have to contend with road matchups against the Patriots and 49ers, as well as home dates with the Bills, Rams and defending champion Seahawks. It’s not completely inconceivable to pencil in an 0-11 run for the Raiders between the AFC West opponents and that unforgiving collection of non-division foes. Then, given Las Vegas is a team very much in a transitional phase and is adjusting to a new coaching staff, even some of the easier matchups on paper against the likes of the Jets and Browns on the road have the potential to turn into quagmires. Consequently, I’m taking a flyer on the Under for the projected total of 5.5 wins — I can see a 5-12 mark, for example, which would still arguably be a success given last year’s record and the significant overhaul the team is undergoing this year.
Bet: Under 5.5 (+120)
2026 Las Vegas Raiders To Make The Playoffs Odds
This one naturally doesn’t really merit much analysis following the breakdown of prior bets. The postseason isn’t a realistic endpoint for the Raiders in 2026 despite the fact there’s upper-tier talent at several positions. Mendoza could very well make this bet a no-brainer for many years to come, but this won’t be one of them as Las Vegas navigates a loaded division and conference, as well as a fairly tough schedule.
Bet: No
2026 Las Vegas Raiders MVP Award Odds & Contenders
- Ashton Jeanty
- Brock Bowers
Note: Both Cousins and Mendoza are also listed on the MVP futures leaderboard, but neither has a realistic chance, especially since neither figures to play a full season as the starter.
Jeanty is an elite talent that made the best of a bad situation as a rookie and raised expectations of what he’d be capable of with a better offensive line and skill-position talent around him. Unfortunately, he’ll likely have to wait at least another year to enjoy those types of conditions. The Raiders’ receiving corps is arguably thinner than at the start of Jeanty’s rookie 2025 campaign, as Jakobi Meyers was still on the roster at that point. Jeanty will also have to play with either a veteran with declining skills in Cousins or a rookie in Mendoza as his quarterback, and while Tyler Linderbaum’s addition at center gives the offensive line a notable boost, the unit is likely to only be slightly improved from last season as a whole.
Bowers has been as good as advertised since being selected with the 13th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, turning in a spectacular 112-1,194-5 line over 17 games as a rookie before churning out 64 receptions for 680 yards and seven touchdowns in 12 games last season while playing through a knee injury from Week 1 on. Bowers was also dealing with abysmal quarterback play for most of 2025, and there will likely be future seasons where he and Mendoza combine on some otherworldly performances. Yet, just as in Jeanty’s case, this isn’t going to be that season. Bowers should certainly see a boatload of targets from either Cousins or Mendoza, but a receiving corps that doesn’t figure to consistently concern opposing defenses and the virtual certainty of a losing record for the team knocks the gifted tight end out of consideration, irrespective of his numbers.
Bet: No
2026 Las Vegas Raiders Schedule
- Week 1 – vs. Miami, 4:25 p.m. – FOX
- Week 2 – at LA Chargers, 4:05 p.m. – CBS
- Week 3 – at New Orleans, 4:25 p.m. – CBS
- Week 4 – vs. Kansas City, 4:25 p.m. – CBS
- Week 5 – at New England, 1:00 p.m. – CBS
- Week 6 – vs. Buffalo, 4:25 p.m. – CBS
- Week 7 – vs. LA Rams, 4:25 p.m. – FOX
- Week 8 – at NY Jets, 1:00 p.m. – FOX
- Week 9 – at San Francisco, 4:05 p.m. – CBS
- Week 10 – vs. Seattle, 4:05 p.m. – CBS
- Week 11 – at Denver, 4:25 p.m. – CBS
- Week 12 – at Cleveland, 1:00 p.m. – FOX
- Week 13 – BYE
- Week 14 – vs. LA Chargers, 4:05 p.m. – CBS
- Week 15 – vs. Denver, 4:25 p.m. – CBS
- Week 16 – vs. Tennessee, 4:05 p.m. – FOX
- Week 17 – at Arizona, 4:05 p.m. – CBS
- Week 18 – at Kansas City, TBD
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