Vikings land Kirk Cousins in blockbuster trade deadline deal with Raiders

The Minnesota Vikings are reuniting with a familiar face at quarterback as they look to solve the issues that have plagued them at the all-important position during their 6-2 start to the 2026 NFL season. The Vikings are acquiring veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins from the Las Vegas Raiders ahead of

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What is the story about?

The Minnesota Vikings are reuniting with a familiar face at quarterback as they look to solve the issues that have plagued them at the all-important position during their 6-2 start to the 2026 NFL season.

The Vikings are acquiring veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins

from the Las Vegas Raiders ahead of the 2026 NFL trade deadline, per multiple reports. Minnesota will send Las Vegas a 2027 third-round pick to complete the deal, per The Ringer's Tom Pelissero.

The Vikings' acquisition of Cousins comes as their offense has struggled to produce and find an identity across the first half of the 2026 NFL season. Minnesota ranks 30th in offensive EPA per play, per the NFL's Next Gen Stats, as free-agent quarterback acquisition Kyler Murray has disappointed

while also missing time due to injury.

The Cousins trade also comes less than 24 hours after the Vikings endured a disastrous offensive performance during their 23-6 Week 9 "Monday Night Football" loss to the Buffalo Bills. Carson Wentz – starting in relief of Murray, who was out with a hamstring injury – completed just 8 of 25 passes for 81 yards and two interceptions, good for a passer rating of just 8.9.

The Vikings will hope that Cousins can provide the team with much steadier play. The 38-year-old performed well across nine starts for the Raiders this season, completing 64.1% of his passes for 2,340 yards, 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions while leading Las Vegas to a 4-5 record.

Cousins, a 15-year NFL veteran, should be able to hit the ground running with the Vikings. He had a six-season stint in Minnesota from 2018 to 2023, two of which came under the tutelage of current Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell.

During his six seasons in Minnesota, Cousins led the team to a 50-37-1 regular-season record while completing 67.9% of his passes and averaging 4494.4 passing yards, 33 touchdowns and 10.6 interceptions per 17 games played.

Here's more to know about the Cousins trade and what it could mean for the Vikings.

Kirk Cousins trade details

Vikings get:

QB Kirk Cousins

Raiders get:

2027 third-round pick

While Cousins performed well for the Raiders, trading him ahead of the deadline was a sensible move. Las Vegas has Fernando Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick from the 2026 NFL Draft, waiting in the wings as the team's long-term franchise quarterback, so he will get a chance to pick up some NFL experience in the second half of the season.

Meanwhile, the Vikings paid a sizable price for Cousins, but it could prove worth it. Brian Flores has helped the team build a championship-caliber defense, and Minnesota simply needs to sport an average-to-above-average offense to complement that and turn themselves into Super Bowl contenders.

Cousins will at least give the Vikings a chance to achieve that goal, and he should prove capable of getting more out of Justin Jefferson than the Murray-Wentz duo.

Kirk Cousins stats

Cousins has completed 64.1% of his passes for 2,340 yards, 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions. His 97.1 passer rating ranks 11th-best in the league entering Week 10 while his 20 touchdown passes are second behind only Joe Burrow (23).

Below is more to know about Cousins' statistical performance from the 2026 NFL season.

Comp./Att. (%): 202/315 (64.1%)
Passing yards: 2,340
Passing TDs: 20
Interceptions: 8
Yards/attempt: 7.4
Passer rating: 97.1
QBR: 62.1
PFF grade: 77.1 (13th among 36 qualified quarterbacks)
EPA per dropback: +0.07 (11th among 31 qualified passers)

Kirk Cousins contract details

Cousins is playing the 2026 NFL season on a one-year deal worth $11.3 million, per Spotrac.com. The contract is fully guaranteed and ranks 35th league-wide among quarterbacks in terms of average annual value (AAV).

Cousins' contract also includes a club option for the 2027 and 2028 seasons, but the Vikings are unlikely to exercise it. Doing so would add another $80 million in guaranteed salary to Cousins' deal, so the two parties would likely be better served by working on a mutually beneficial extension if Minnesota wants to retain the veteran signal-caller.

Vikings QB depth chart

The Vikings now have four quarterbacks in their organization. Here's a look at the pecking order within the unit:

Kirk Cousins
Kyler Murray
Carson Wentz
Max Brosmer

Despite leading the Vikings to a 5-1 record across six starts, Murray threw for just 1,022 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions while completing 64.9% of his passes. He added 167 yards on 29 carries but didn't instill enough confidence for the Vikings to trust him as a starter.

Meanwhile, Wentz played the majority of three games for the Vikings, going 1-1 in two starts while completing just 48.4% of his passes for 357 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. The Vikings scored a combined 15 points in his two starts.

Brosmer only played in mop-up duty behind Wentz against the Bills. The second-year quarterback completed 6 of 7 passes for 58 yards but still hasn't thrown a touchdown, despite starting two games during the 2025 NFL season.

Vikings draft picks 2027

The Vikings still have nine 2027 NFL Draft picks at their disposal even after trading for Cousins. Here's a look at their full list of draft capital, per Spotrac.com.