New Kirk Cousins Trade Details Reveal When Vikings First Made Their Move
After an impressive start to the 2026 NFL season, winning their first six games, the Minnesota Vikings have lost two consecutive games, with the team’s offense struggling to keep up with its lockdown defense.
As a result of the Vikings’ struggles offensively, especially at the quarterback position, Minnesota pulled off a last-second trade to bring back Kirk Cousins to be the new leader under center.
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The Vikings have high hopes of being a legitimate Super Bowl title contender this season, and it appears the team checked in on Cousins’ availability well before the NFL trade deadline earlier this week, via ESPN.
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.
Ultimately, the Vikings sent a third-round draft pick to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for Cousins, with the original offer being a fifth-round pick.
It was not a deal the Raiders wanted or were looking to make, especially when Minnesota’s initial offer was a fifth-round draft pick, according to sources.
With Minnesota having arguably the best defense in the NFL and some elite offensive weapons like superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson, it makes sense that they’d make this move, even if they paid a higher price than they wanted to for the former face of the franchise.
