With the NFL trade deadline nearing, the New England Patriots have been quiet. The same cannot be said for one of their opponents.
The Minnesota Vikings, who will visit the Patriots in Week 14 for a prime time matchup, have acquired quarterback Kirk Cousins from the Las Vegas Raiders. Cousins already spent six seasons in Minnesota between 2018 and 2023.
As confirmed by the Vikings, they are sending a third-round selection in next year’s draft to Las Vegas to complete the trade.
Cousins, 38, started
all nine of the Raiders’ games so far this season. One of those came against the Patriots: in Week 5, he completed 19 of 28 pass attempts for 243 yards with a touchdown and three sacks. Despite him posting some solid overall stats, Las Vegas was blown out by a final score of 45-17.
Cousins will now join a Vikings team that started the season 6-0 but has dropped back-to-back contests while struggling to get competent quarterback play out of the trio of Kyler Murray, Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer. The low point came on Monday night against the Bills, when Wentz went 8-for-25 for 81 yards and a pair of interceptions in a 23-6 defeat.
If all goes according to Minnesota’s plans, however, none of those three will be under center come the mid-December game in Foxborough. Instead, Cousins, as pointed out by Ethan Hurwitz of Patriots on SI, is on track to become one of only eight quarterbacks in NFL history to have faced the same team twice a season while wearing different teams’ uniforms.
When New England last played the Vikings back in 2022, Cousins also was their starting quarterback. He led his team to a 33-26 win against the Mac Jones-led Patriots.
