The Minnesota Vikings traded a 2027 third-round pick to the Las Vegas Raiders for quarterback Kirk Cousins before Tuesday's trade deadline. Cousins still has to pass a physical. Cousins, 38, started for Minnesota from 2018 to 2023. He tore his Achilles in 2023 and then left for Atlanta. This season he has 20 touchdown passes for the Raiders, second only to Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow. The Vikings started 6-0 but have lost two straight. Backup Carson Wentz started Monday in place of injured starter Kyler Murray. He went 8 of 25 for 81 yards in a 23-6 loss to Buffalo. The Raiders, now 4-5, are handing the job to No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza.

The Vikings Had to Make This Move

Many analysts say Minnesota's defense is too good to waste on bad quarterback play, and a third-round pick is a fair price.

The offense was wasting the NFL's best defense. Minnesota allows a league-best 14.5 points per game, but its offense ranks second-worst in yards. TheScore's Caio Miari gave the deal an A-. "The Vikings can't keep wasting the NFL's best defense," he wrote. He said Cousins isn't elite, "but he knows O'Connell's offense."

A third-round pick is a cheap price for a starter. Yahoo Sports senior writer Frank Schwab said "a bold move was needed" after Wentz's night. He called Cousins "still by far the fourth-best quarterback in a tough division," but said the deal is "well worth the price of a third-round pick to find out." Will Ragatz of BMTN Sports said he was "fully on board" and had thought the Raiders "might hold out for a second-rounder."

Cousins already knows this offense. He played two seasons under coach Kevin O'Connell. Trevor Ripley of Vikings On SI gave the deal an A and called it "impossible to hate." Receiver Justin Jefferson has 31 catches for 393 yards at the midpoint. With Cousins in 2022, he led the NFL with 1,809 yards. Sporting News' Vinnie Iyer said the Vikings are "envisioning being this year's Seahawks." Seattle won the Super Bowl with quarterback Sam Darnold and a dominant defense.

The Vikings Made This Mess Themselves

Critics say the Vikings paid a deadline price to fix their own mistakes, and a 38-year-old is no sure thing.

The Vikings signed Kyler Murray to avoid exactly this. AtoZ Sports' Tyler Forness gave the deal a C+ and wrote, "The Minnesota Vikings have acted in desperation." He wrote that "they signed quarterback Kyler Murray specifically to avoid this situation." Murray ranks 27th in QBR. Forness also wrote, "If Minnesota hadn't traded quarterback J.J. McCarthy, it wouldn't be in this mess." The Vikings sent McCarthy to the Giants in September for a fifth-round pick. He has won his first two starts for New York.

They could have had Cousins for less. Ripley wrote that the Vikings "clearly should've" signed Cousins in March "for pennies on the dollar." Pro Football Talk said that a deal before Monday night "would have been cheaper." SB Nation's Mark Schofield traced the trade to "a lot of wrong decisions" since Cousins left. Eight different quarterbacks have started for Minnesota since then.

The Vikings' new GM is already giving up picks. Forness noted that GM Nolan Teasley hasn't run a draft yet and has already traded a future pick. Unless the Vikings rework the deal, they owe Cousins a $10 million roster bonus this spring.

Cousins is 38 and has a shaky big-game record. Yahoo's Chris Cwik wrote that "success is not a sure thing." He said Cousins "looked like a diminished player last year" and "doesn't have the best track record in big games." Ripley noted Cousins is a few years removed from his Achilles tear, "so the risk of adding him is far from zero." Cousins threw three interceptions in his last game, a loss to the 49ers.

The Raiders Got the Better End

Raiders backers say Las Vegas got half a season from Cousins and a draft pick, and Mendoza's turn was due anyway.

Las Vegas got half a season and a pick. Schwab wrote that the Raiders "played the Kirk Cousins/Fernando Mendoza situation perfectly" and called it "really smart business." Levi Damien of Raiders Wire said the Raiders got "a proven starter and mentor for an offseason and half the regular season," then got a draft pick for him. TheScore gave the Raiders a B+.

It was time to play Mendoza. The Raiders have lost five of their last six games. After their loss to the 49ers, CBS Sports analyst Pete Prisco said, "It's time. Now is the time." He said the Raiders "aren't going to the postseason." NFL on Prime's James Palmer reported that the Raiders "have felt that Fernando Mendoza has been ready."

Some say the Raiders sold too cheap. Iyer wrote that the Raiders "might have been able to milk more out of Minnesota." Ripley said they "should've held out for more." Mendoza also has a hard first two weeks ahead. ESPN's Adam Schefter noted that his first two starts come against the Seahawks and Broncos, "two of the NFL's top defenses."

Where This Lands

Most analysts graded the trade well for both teams. Miari, Schwab and Ripley say a third-round pick is a fair price to save a season with an elite defense. Forness and Schofield say the Vikings paid for their own mistakes with Murray and McCarthy. Cwik warns that Cousins, at 38, is no sure thing in big games. Raiders backers say Las Vegas got half a season and a pick out of Cousins. Iyer and Ripley say the Raiders could have asked for more. Cousins still needs to pass his physical. The Vikings haven't said whether he'll start Sunday at Green Bay, where he played his last game for them in 2023. Mendoza makes his first start Sunday at home against Seattle.

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