The Minnesota Vikings made a splash ahead of the trade deadline when they swung a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders that reunited them with veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins. After an ugly Week 9 loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Vikings clearly needed help at quarterback, and Cousins should come in and immediately be the team’s best option under center.
With just hours until the trade deadline struck after their aforementioned defeat at the hands of the Bills on Monday Night Football, Minnesota cast a wide net in its search for a new quarterback. That search included another one of the team’s former quarterbacks, Daniel Jones, and while the Vikings ultimately didn’t make a move for the Indianapolis Colts‘ starter, it sounds like he was very much on the team’s radar.
Daniel Jones was Vikings’ Backup Trade Target at Quarterback
Considering how well Cousins had been playing for the Vikings, he wasn’t really expected to be up for grabs at the trade deadline, even with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Fernando Mendoza, waiting in the wings. Through nine games, Cousins has looked like the Pro Bowl-caliber version of himself (202/315, 2,340 YDS, 20 TD, 8 INT), and he should be a major upgrade over the likes of Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz.
The guy who was more widely expected to be available in trade talks was Jones. Not only were the Colts conducting a fire sale of sorts, but Jones has struggled this season (182/302, 1,722 YDS, 6 TD, 10 INT). With so few options available, though, his ties to the Vikings from the 2024 campaign made him a desirable target for the team.
Instead, Indianapolis stood pat on Jones, despite having listened to trade offers for him. At the end of the day, it sounds like Minnesota was his only real suitor, but even then, the team preferred to acquire Cousins, with NFL insider Jeremy Fowler of ESPN revealing that Jones was the team’s backup plan at quarterback if a deal with Las Vegas didn’t come to fruition.
“As for Jones, he was likely Minnesota’s backup option to Cousins,” Fowler reported when discussing the Vikings’ trade deadline dealings.
Vikings Landed Their Top Trade Target in Kirk Cousins
This small tidbit confirms what many folks expected, and that’s that Cousins was the Vikings’ top target at the quarterback position. While the team checked in on other guys like Jones, Cousins’ familiarity with Minnesota from his six-season stint with the team and his strong play throughout the year in a limited Las Vegas offense made him the best candidate to take over under center.
Cousins will join an offense loaded with top-tier playmakers, and he will surely be tasked with helping get Justin Jefferson back to the All-Pro version of himself that has largely been missing since the team decided to move on from him. Right off the bat, Cousins will be thrown into the fire, as the Vikings have a huge divisional clash against the Green Bay Packers on their hands in Week 10.
Insider Drops Truth Bomb on Vikings’ Daniel Jones Trade Pursuit