Vikings Bring Back Kirk Cousins in Trade With Raiders

The Minnesota Vikings have traded for quarterback Kirk Cousins, and the Las Vegas Raiders will receive a third-round pick in the 2027 draft in return. The draft is the annual event where NFL teams pick new college players, and a third-rounder is a mid-level selection.

Cousins is back in Minnesota, where he spent six seasons from 2018 through 2023. ESPN's Adam Schefter and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport both reported the deal.

The Vikings got off to a 6-0 start this season, then lost their last two games. The slide came as their quarterback situation shifted. Kyler Murray, in his first season in Minnesota, was the starter until an injury kept him out of the loss to the Buffalo Bills. Carson Wentz took over that day and threw two interceptions, which are passes caught by the defense.

Head coach Kevin O'Connell now has Cousins available to step in at quarterback. The Vikings have been busy around the roster in recent weeks. On November 9, they signed wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to the active roster, moved safety Tavierre Thomas up from the practice squad, and placed running back Demond Claiborne on injured reserve. The practice squad is a group of players who train with the team but are not on the game-day roster. Earlier, on September 28, they traded quarterback J.J. McCarthy to the New York Giants for a 2027 fifth-round pick.

The Raiders were 4-5 when they made the trade. They are turning to No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, the first player taken in this year's draft, as their starting quarterback. His first two scheduled NFL starts are against the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos.

For Las Vegas, the deal means a young quarterback gets the job and the team adds a draft pick in a future year. For Minnesota, it means a veteran who knows the franchise and its offense is back in the building. The first question is how quickly Cousins can learn the playbook and build chemistry with a receiver group that has changed over the season. Fans will also want to see whether the Vikings' defense can hold up through the rest of the schedule, especially after the two losses.

Trades like this one tend to be judged by what happens on the field over the next several weeks. Minnesota now has a plan at quarterback. Las Vegas has to see whether Mendoza can start winning in his first NFL games.