The Minnesota Vikings started out of the gates this season at 6-0. Since then they have lost two straight games. It was not the offense of the Vikings that should get credit for the six wins. It’s the Vikings defense that gets all the credit because they are the number one unit in the NFL. Just a few days ago during Monday Night Football the Vikings went with veteran QB Carson Wentz as the starter who was filling in for the injured Kyler Murray. Wentz probably had the worst game of his career versus the Buffalo Bills as he completed 8 passes out of 25 attempts for a meager 81 yards and two interceptions. The Vikings scored only 6 points on two field goals in a 23-6 loss to the Bills. With the deadline trade looming, the Vikings had to find something better behind center or their season would be wiped away. The Vikings tried to pry Justin Herbert away for the winless Chargers. The Chargers were not biting, so they moved on and bring back a familiar face in their old Captain Kirk Cousins who played six seasons in Minnesota and two with their present day Vikings head coach, Kevin O’Connell. The Vikings give the Raiders a 2027 3rd round draft pick to get the deal done.

In 2023 it was the last year Kirk Cousins played in Minnesota before signing the big deal with the Atlanta Falcons. Cousins tore his Achilles tendon after 8 games in 23 versus Green Bay that ended his season. The Falcons still gave him the big contract and his time in Hot’lanta has been recovering from that injury as his stats have not been what he was putting up in Minnesota. Cousins at 38 years of age would find new life with Las Vegas as a bridge QB as the Raiders drafted former Heisman winner and a guy who helped the University of Indiana win their first ever title in football. After 9 regular season games Fenando, Mendoza will get his first NFL start now since Cousins has departed wearing the silver and black. Cousins has been having a solid year as the Raiders starting quarterback. Out of the gates with Cousins, the Raiders started off the season 3-0. The Captain went 4-5 as the Raiders starting QB this season. He has completed 64.1% of his passes while throwing 20 touchdown passes to only 8 interceptions in those 9 starts.

Kyler Murray was 5-1 with the Vikings so far this season in six starts. He has missed a few games with injuries in his first season in Minnesota. Murray has completed 64.9% of his passes but only for 1,022 passing yards. Where Cousins has piled up 2,340 passing yards this season in 9 games which is three more than Murray. Murray has been more of a dink and dunk kind of passer this season. While Cousins can rip the ball down field for big chunks of yardage. Then the Vikings gave Carson Wentz two starts this season. He actually won one of them. He has not done well only completing 48.4% of his passes for 357 passing yards. He had three touchdown passes and 2 picks. The Bills game definitely angered his passing stats in a bad way. Then the Vikings traded away probably their best QB they had before beaming Cousins back to the mothership. That is their former number 1 pick JJ McCarthy, who they traded to the Giants a few weeks ago. In 2 starts he has thrown for 622 passing yards and has 1 touchdown pass and 1 interception. In 2024, the Vikings actually had three former first round QB’s on their roster with Sam Darnold, Daniels Jones, and McCarthy. Darnold led the Vikings to the post-season in that 2024 season with an impressive regular season record. The Vikings had a chance at the number 1 seed and a NFC North division title but faltered in the last game of the season versus the Lions. The Vikings were quickly dispatched in round 1 ,as a wild card team they had to settle to be because of that loss. Then Darnold left in free agency and helped the Seattle Seahawks win a Superbowl in the 2025 season. The Vikings also watched Jones go to the Indianapolis Colts in in ’25 and he had a solid first half as the starter there. The Vikings missed the post-season.

Kirk Cousins was originally drafted by the then Washington Redskins back in 2012 in the 4th round of the NFL draft from Michigan State. Cousins was born and raised in Barrington, Illinois. He has played in the NFL for 15 seasons starting with Washington for 6 seasons tied with the Vikings for 6 seasons. He had two seasons in Atlanta. Then the 9 games with the Raiders this season. He played for the Vikings from 2018-2023. In six seasons as the starter for the Vikings, he had a winning record of 50-37-1 which includes a 13-4 mark in 2022 regular season with Kevin O’Connell as the Vikings head coach. Cousins has played in 183 NFL games and has a career record of 92-82-2. He has completed 66.6% of his passes which are the devil’s numbers. He has tallied up 47, 040 passing yards for 318 touchdown passes. He could be described as a gunslinger as he also thrown 139 career interceptions. He is a 4x Pro Bowler. However in the big games such as post-season games his record is only 1-4. As he’s known to fizzle in big games overall.

The Vikings needed an upgrade over the likes of Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz as Max Brosmer is still a guy they are developing. In a division where every team has a winning record and three teams seem to make the post-season, the last two seasons. The Vikings don’t want to be that guy watching the post-season from their couch. They have the best defense in the NFC North, perhaps in the NFC this year. It seems like it would be a wasted opportunity if they ended up not making post-season because of their QB play. Is Kirk Cousins the best QB in the NFC North? A division that has Caleb Williams for the Bears, Jared Goff for the Lions, and then Jordan Love for the Packers. Cousins is definitely the senior citizen of this group. I think that is why the Vikings tried to get Justin Herbert first for a younger option. Cousins will definitely give the Vikings offense some juice right away. The weapons he has start with one of the best wide receivers in the game with Justin Jefferson. Cousins and Jefferson have worked well in the past. They have played with each other in 54 games and Jefferson has 354 catches for 5,338 receiving yards and 28 touchdown catches. Other playmakers that have been quiet this year for the Vikings may suddenly resurrect their fantasy stats from the past. Jordan Addison is a nice option as a receiver for the deep ball. Once upon a time ago, TJ Hockenson played like one of the best tight ends in the game. The running game should improve because of the passing game. Defenses can’t just stack the box, stop the run, and call it a day. Cousins can shred many defenses in the league and he may have the better surrounding cast with the Vikings than he had with the Raiders. This will be the third time Cousins has worked with the Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell in his career. Kevin was the QB coach in Washington that helped Cousins develop into a better player. Then the first go-around in Minnesota they worked with each other two seasons. For Minnesota they always had more luck with bringing veteran QB’s into their system and like changing a light bulb, it would work. Obviously Murray and Wentz may be the only proof to this theory has some hiccups. Cousins will be like a changing of the light bulb in the Vikings offense because he knows it already. The Vikings have a record of 6-2 and have not played well on all three phases of the game which is defense, offense, and special teams. This trade will give the Vikings the big two in offense and defense as I’m not sure where they are ranked in special teams. This trade was the only way they can over take the Bears and stay ahead of the rest of the teams in the NFC North.