Kirk Cousins Is Going Back to Minnesota as the Vikings Trade a Third-Round Pick to the Raiders

By The Arena Staff

EAGAN, Minn., Nov. 10, 2026 — The Minnesota Vikings went shopping for a quarterback on deadline day and came home with one they already knew.

Minnesota acquired Kirk Cousins from the Las Vegas Raiders on Tuesday for a 2027 third-round draft pick, the team announced a few hours before the 4 p.m. ET trade deadline. The deal is pending a physical, according to Vikings.com. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo and ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the terms, and The Associated Press confirmed them through two people with knowledge of the trade.

It sends the 38-year-old back to the franchise he played for from 2018 to 2023 and back to coach Kevin O'Connell, who coached him in Washington in 2017 and for his last two seasons in Minnesota. Their first year together in Minnesota was one of the best of Cousins' career: 4,547 yards, 29 touchdowns and a 13-4 record in 2022, NFL.com noted.

The Vikings needed something. Their defense leads the league in scoring, but the offense ranks 27th in points, 31st in yards and 31st in passing, according to NFL.com, and it has scored 16 points or fewer in five of eight games, including the last three. Kyler Murray hasn't fixed it, and neither did Carson Wentz in Monday night's 23-6 home loss to Buffalo. J.J. McCarthy, the quarterback drafted to replace Cousins in 2024, was traded to the Giants in September.

So Cousins returns to replace his replacement, as NFL.com put it.

He hasn't been a placeholder in Las Vegas. Cousins has started all nine games for the Raiders and is 202 of 315 for 2,340 yards, 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions, a 97.1 passer rating, according to Vikings.com. He knows O'Connell's offense and most of the starting offensive line, plus Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson.

The schedule has a sense of humor. Minnesota (6-2) visits Green Bay (6-3) at 1 p.m. ET Sunday. Cousins' last game as a Viking was at Lambeau Field in Week 8 of 2023, when he tore his Achilles in the fourth quarter.

For the Raiders (4-5), the move turns the offense over to rookie Fernando Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick in April's draft and a Heisman winner at Indiana. Mendoza has thrown eight passes this season, completing six for 48 yards in a blowout loss to New England, according to NFL.com.