The Minnesota Vikings took a big swing ahead of the 2026 NFL trade deadline when they acquired Kirk Cousins in a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders. After previously spending six seasons with the Vikings, Cousins will return to town and look to get the team’s offense going after a miserable start to the season.
While Minnesota has cruised out to a 6-2 record, its offense has been arguably the worst unit in the league, and after a horrific outing against the Buffalo Bills in Week 9, it became abundantly clear that this team needed to make a move for a quarterback. While the trade for Cousins materialized after the aforementioned loss to the Bills, a new report indicates that the Vikings actually reached out to the Raiders regarding Cousins before this game even kicked off.
Vikings Reached Out to Raiders on Kirk Cousins Before Week 9 Meltdown
Minnesota’s plan for the 2026 campaign was to make Kyler Murray the starter at quarterback, as it figured he couldn’t possibly be worse than the trio of J.J. McCarthy, Carson Wentz, and Max Brosmer were in 2025. Well, that ended up being wishful thinking, as Murray has struggled, with Wentz failing to look much better when filling in for him.
With a historically efficient defense, the Vikings almost had no choice but to go out and swing a trade for a quarterback. Cousins ended up being the guy, as he was enjoying a resurgent season with the Raiders before this trade took place (202/315, 2,340 YDS, 20 TD, 8 INT). Beyond that, he has familiarity with Minnesota’s offensive scheme from his prior stint with the team.
Ahead of the trade deadline, Las Vegas publicly rebuffed trade interest in Cousins, but it ended up giving in and flipping him for a 2027 third-round pick. The overarching expectation was that the Vikings traded for Cousins after seeing how things unfolded against the Bills, and while that very well may be true, NFL insiders Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport reported that the team initially called the Raiders about the four-time Pro Bowler before that game was even played.
“The first time the Vikings reached out to the Raiders about a potential trade for Kirk Cousins was midday Monday, hours before Minnesota played the Bills on ‘Monday Night Football,’ league sources told ESPN and NFL Network,” Schefter and Rapoport wrote. “During that call, the Vikings made it clear to the Raiders that they wanted to see how Monday night went first before having any further conversations about Cousins, but they would be in touch if needed.”
Can Kirk Cousins Turn Things Around for the Vikings Offense?
There’s really no hiding from the fact that expectations are high for the Vikings now that Cousins is in town. The defense is the best unit in the league, and there are a handful of weapons at Cousins’ disposal that he will look to put to better use than Murray and Wentz. Even if the offense operates at a league-average level, the defense is good enough to make Minnesota a Super Bowl contender.
Cousins is going to have to hit the ground running, though, as he will immediately draw the start for the Vikings in Week 10 against their NFC North rival, the Green Bay Packers. With the NFC North being the most competitive division in football right now, every divisional matchup is crucial, so Minnesota is going to have to put its best foot forward in this one. Kickoff for this wildly important contest is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.
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