Cousins' Value As Trade Chip Continues To Grow

When the Las Vegas Raiders signed quarterback Kirk Cousins as a free agent, it was pretty easy to assume what his most prominent role with the team would be: act as a veteran presence in the QB room and a valued advisor to No. 1 overall draft pick and - hopefully - future face of the franchise Fernando Mendoza.

To that end, all indications are that Cousins has been nothing but a model mentor for Mendoza.

But what the Raiders - and the rest of the NFL - have also found out is that the ol' rascal can still play the game.

Through eight games, he has thrown for 2,124 yards and 19 touchdowns, numbers that put him on pace for a career-best in TD tosses (40) and his third-best season in yardage (4,514). The 19 TD passes put him one behind league-leader Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals, while he's third in passing yardage, 22 yards behind the Los Angeles Rams' Matthew Stafford and 122 in arrears of the Green Bay Packers' Jordan Love.

More importantly, he is leading a Raiders' team that has begun to show a pulse, with a 4-4 record after they went a combined 7-27 in 2024-25.

That has also enabled Cousins' name to consistently come up in a variety of trade rumors as the NFL trade deadline approaches on Nov. 10.

One of the latest ones, however, might make the most sense. In a report from Warren Mitchell of Raider Beat on Wednesday, he indicated that the Minnesota Vikings might just be the perfect landing spot for Cousins if he is traded.

It does make perfect sense. Cousins has history with the organization, leading the Vikings to a 13-4 record and playoff spot in 2022, the first year of head coach Kevin O'Connell's five-season tenure in the Twin Cities. Therefore, it shouldn't take much to get Cousins up and running in the Vikings' offense.

Minnesota may also be desperate to add a proven veteran at quarterback as, despite the Vikings standing at 6-1, the Kyler Murray experiment has been nowhere near successful.

Cousins may also welcome the trade because, let's face it, at 38 he's really not the future at QB for the Raiders, and though the Raiders are on the fringes of playoff contention, they have just an 18% chance to make the playoffs, according to some sources, and their schedule down the stretch is brutal.

The Vikings, according to those same sources, have an 83% chance to make the playoffs, so why wouldn't Cousins want to roll the dice in Minnesota on another chance at postseason glory?

"The stars are lining right now in Minnesota and the Vikings have a real chance to make the Super Bowl this year," Mitchell wrote. "The quarterback position might be all that is holding back the Vikings from a Super Bowl, and for that reason they have to be thinking about making an offer for Cousins."

The question then becomes, what is an appropriate offer - and that's where NFL insider Tom Pelissero comes in.

Referencing a conversation Pelissero had with podcaster Bill Simmons on Tuesday, Mitchell writes that while Cousins' initial trade value may have been a Day 3 draft pick, his performance thus far this season has upped the ante.

“Well, here’s what it comes down to,” Pelissero said. “What are you willing to pay for Kirk Cousins? Are you giving up a second-round pick? Are you sending a first-round pick for Kirk Cousins? I don’t know why the Raiders would do it for less.”

If Raiders' GM John Spytek is able to extract a first- or second-round pick for Cousins with Mendoza a ready-made replacement waiting in the wings that would be the ultimate win-win scenario.