Why Didn’t the Vikings Bring Kirk Cousins Back In August?

Vikings Why Didn't the Vikings Bring Kirk Cousins Back In August? Photo credit: Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images By Chris Schad - November 11, 2026 The Minnesota Vikings finally faced the inevitable on Tuesday, sending a 2027 third-round pick to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for Kirk Cousins . A reunion seemed like a formality after Carson Wentz set modern football back 50 years in their 23-6 win over the Buffalo Bills. Cousins may be the missing piece Brian Flores’ defense needs to pursue a championship. Cousins’ past is worth mentioning. There’s a good chance this could end with him spiking the ball on fourth down in a playoff game. But there’s also a chance it works, and he has a redemption arc that changes his place in franchise history. Those storylines will play out over the next several months. But if Kirk Cousins were the quarterback they needed, it shouldn’t have taken this long. The Vikings should have pulled the trigger much sooner and brought Cousins back when he was a free agent last April. The seeds were there for Cousins to return late last season. After trying J.J. McCarthy as his starter, Kevin O’Connell altered his offense with the same energy as the uncle who knows that he can give the kid back to his parents when he’s done babysitting. By the time McCarthy placed a towel over his injured hand in the season finale, his days in Minnesota were numbered, and it was clear the Vikings would need a quarterback. At the same time, Cousins was shaking off the rust from his torn Achilles in 2023. As the head of the negotiation table, Cousins couldn’t pass up the four-year, $180 million contract the Atlanta Falcons offered in the spring of 2024. But it never felt like a clean fit. The Falcons selected Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth-overall pick in the 2024 draft a few weeks later, and Cousins struggled, completing 66.9% of his passes for 3,508 yards, 18 touchdowns, and an NFL-high 16 interceptions before the Falcons benched him for Penix in December. Like most franchises that don’t think they need Kirk Cousins anymore, the Falcons came crawling back when Penix tore his ACL the following season. In 10 games, Cousins showed signs of returning to form and posted a 5-3 record as a starter, completing 61.7% of his passes for 1,721 yards, 10 touchdowns, and five interceptions. With that, the partnership was right there. The Vikings could sign Cousins, let McCarthy develop, and keep a third-round pick in a 2027 draft that has been hailed ever since Jeremiah Smith went nuclear in the 2025 Rose Bowl. If Cousins aged out, McCarthy could step in and allow the Vikings to evaluate him while his fifth-year option was due the following spring. Of course, this is the Vikings, and their path is anything but normal. Perhaps because Sam Darnold reached the Super Bowl (and eventually won it) with the Seattle Seahawks, the Vikings fired general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. Instead of hiring an immediate replacement, the Vikings delayed it until May, naming Rob Brzezinski the interim GM. The Vikings cap guru, Brzezinski, didn’t have much scouting background, which led O’Connell, Brian Flores, and the rest of the coaching staff to have heavy input in building this year’s roster. While Flores built a championship-caliber defense, O’Connell sought his own solution, targeting Kyler Murray . Murray could be had at the low cost of $1.3 million thanks to offset language following his release from the Arizona Cardinals. O’Connell also thought Murray could be “a potential longer-range answer, rather than a one-year Band-Aid,” per SI’s Albert Breer . That led to a quarterback competition that probably wasn’t necessary, and the Vikings eventually traded McCarthy to the New York Giants. Even when Murray won the job, it was based on what he could become rather than a consistent approach during training camp, and those struggles continued into the regular season. While Murray is best when he can get rid of the ball quickly, O’Connell never adapted, demanding he run the “Air Darnold” offense to target explosive plays downfield. After starting the season 6-0 and losing their past two games, the Vikings couldn’t afford to turn back to Murray, even if his hamstring suddenly felt better because Wentz struggled on Monday night. With Cousins, the Vikings could have made him the starter in an offense where he already had experience and watched him take the reins. But the ongoing gravitron the Vikings have had at quarterback kept spinning, and it eventually brought him back to where he cashed his first big paycheck. Maybe this time will be different, and Kirk Cousins can finish the story he started with the Vikings. But it’s an egregious mismanagement of assets that highlights issues with O’Connell’s player evaluation. The Wilf family, likely hypnotized by O’Connell’s postgame speeches, may disagree. But reaching their solution in the middle of the season and coughing up a third-round pick to do it shows Cousins should have returned long ago. Chris Schad Schad covers the Minnesota Vikings for Zone Coverage. He also writes for Bring Me The News and The Viking Age and hosts The Homer Horn Podcast. All Articles