Vikings reuniting with Kirk Cousins in trade with Raiders: Report

Less than 90 minutes until the trade deadline. What is your confidence level that the Vikings will do something at quarterback? I think they almost have to. They've got painted into the corner. They were going to try to see what happened last night with Carson Wentz to see if he could get this offense going. We saw what happened. Yeah, it blew apart. So now you have to do something. We talked about it last hour. When do you decide? When the future is now, it is for this team. That defense is a Super Bowl winning defense. If they were paired with a competent offense, they would not have lost a game as of yet because they turned Josh Allen into a pedestrian quarterback last week against Detroit. Lions were the third best scoring offense, second best scoring offense in the NFL. They couldn't do anything against them. The only way you can beat Flores' group is if they're out there all night. And the Vikings time of possession, I think was 17 minutes and change, which is the lowest I heard in 20 some years in an NFL game. They could do nothing offensively. So I think you have to do something just because the NFL changes so much from year to year that when you have two thirds of a team that could win you a title. I think you gotta do everything you can and maybe overpay to try and fix what you feel is your biggest problem. Breaking news apparently here. Let's go for it, let's go for it. Let's see, I'm just trying to pull this up from Tom Pelissero, 54 seconds ago on X. He's saying that the Raiders are trading Cousins to the Vikings for their 2027 third round pick. According, it says, sources tell Ringer and Netflix Sports. That's where he is now. Okay, that's where Pelissero is now. You froze up, Jimmy. We'll wait a second here to get you back. I'm being told that this is also being reported by Adam Schefter. Of, uh, what? He's with ESPN? Hang on, I am finding these tweets. We still call them tweets as we go. So Adam Schefter, 48 seconds ago. The Raiders trading Cousins to the Vikings. It's a done deal. And for that third round pick that we were just talking about, next year's third round pick is the deal. Pelissero, Rappaport, Schefter, they're all reporting this. We got Jimmy back. We'll bring Jimmy back on here to get some analysis here. Mike Garofalo also saying this as well. Yeah, it's happening, Rob. We talked about it. It's happening. It is happening. Yet to see anything. It'll be a bit, I imagine, before we see anything. I mean, these are pretty solid sources, Jim. Wouldn't you say that we can say that this is pretty solidly reported? Yeah, people are calling me, too. That's what knocked me out there is they're trying to get a hold of me to let me know, too. And so what basically this is, is it's time to get your Kohl's cash out again to help the Vikings pay for Kirk so he can work on his wardrobe here because he's going to have to get some sweaters again, some jackets, and time to re-acclimate himself to Minnesota. But this is by far the best deal that they could pull. Third rounder is not a big deal. They just picked up one in a trade. Or when so-and-so signed, they picked one up. So it's fine. They still have one. They had a pair. So that's not a killer. And he's plug and play. He knows O'Connell's system. And so I think this is going to be a great deal for him. I think it's a guy that's excited to come back. He didn't want to leave here. But he had to go for the money. Yeah. Why not? Yeah. And so I think it'll be a great fit. Yeah. Well, in knowing how well, if the playbook hasn't changed dramatically, knowing how well he studied the playbook, he probably still remembers most of them. Well, you know what? The current one, Throw it away. Go back to the one that you used with Cousins. Because the one they're using now is not much of anything right now. And that's kind of the key. The Vikings had an identity with the passing game. That's all gone. They've tried to become a running team this year. That hasn't worked. I'm sorry. So whatever they've done to this point hasn't worked. So that's fine. Throw Kirk back out there. Let's go. And I think he'll know the plays as well as anybody on the field. Okay, how do you think Vikings fandom will react to this news? I mean, there are a lot of people that love Cousins when he was here. Then the detractors saying, well, we saw everything that we could get out of him. And it's six seasons and we saw as far as he could take us that we saw his limit. What do you expect to hear? I think the fan base after last night and watching Kyler and JJ and Max and Carson. They will welcome him with open arms. A lot of times, you know, you decide that, oh, that's really a nice car. I'm going to go buy that. And it turns out to be a lemon. Not that I'm calling those quarterbacks lemons, but the results have been very lemon-ish. And all of a sudden, you see your old car sitting in the driveway. You hop in it, and it just feels right. I think that's what you're going to see here is that, you know what? I think this works. And hopefully, especially the rapport he has with Justin Jefferson. That, I think, is the biggest key. Because you saw how defeated Justin was last night and the last two weeks after these games. He's the NFL's best receiver. And he's in the bottom tier of receivers right now. Yeah. I would imagine, and you back me, or tell me if I'm wrong. I would imagine that Justin Jefferson probably had... A pretty good say in this as well. Don't you think they would listen to JJ to say, who do you want? Yes, and by saying that, and a lot of times you really don't want players calling the shots. No, but. Because that just opens up a can of worms. But I'll tell you, his leadership role with this club ever since he got the letter and was named captain. He's really bought into that and really tries to be an exemplary leader. And we see it, you know, where most star receivers in this league would lose their minds over not getting the ball and seeing their production drop like that. And when they were winning, he's like, I'm fine with it. We're winning. I'll do what the team needs. But he is somebody that you need on your side. You need him to believe what management is doing. You need him to believe what the coaches are doing is correct. Because if you lose him, you might as well trade him. And if this didn't go away in which was acceptable, I could see him maybe at the end of the year saying, I need to go to somewhere else. But. At this point, he should be all in on this. And I hope that they asked him, what do you think about bringing Kirk back? Yeah, well, the good news is we got a fan base that's already got Cousins jerseys in the closet. So they can dust those off, or they're probably still wearing them. And then what becomes of Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz, I think after last night's game, A lot of fans are just, you know. Carson Wentz, I think fans like him. I think he's a likable guy. He's had an enjoyable career, but I guess he's now, what happens to him? They just go to backup roles. I mean, neither the Vikings don't have them under contract for next season. So your financial obligation to both is done. If you want to try to bring one back as a backup, who knows? Let's just get through and finish what this season does. The future is irrelevant right now. This is a good enough team, as we were talking about before the trade was announced, That's that. It's good enough to compete for a Super Bowl. You have the defense, you have the kicker. Will has been fantastic. The punting game is great. Everything is there except the offense. And the offense doesn't have to put up 35, 42 points a game. They have to put up 25, 21 to 25, and you're going to be in every single game. And this is going to reignite the enthusiasm of the team. You know, Kirk is like your favorite uncle, right? He's kind of dorky, he wears the sweater, you're like, but he's a good guy and he's all got good in his heart, never take sides or is divisive. Thank you, sir. I think he'll be welcomed back into that locker room in open arms. I would think so. Heading to Lambeau this weekend, Jimmy, I'm sorry, I know we're taking a lot of your time, but this is a break. No, this is big. I'm glad to be a part of this. This is why they made all day. This is what's cool is because you can do instant reactions to whatever happens, whether it's news, sports, And that's why I think this format is really going to work. So I got the time for you, that's fine. They're gonna put that in a promo now, thanks Jimmy. I gotta get one somehow. They head to Lambeau this weekend and we should remember that's where Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles and started us on this quarterback merry-go-round. If you look at who we've had since then, and I just pulled up the list of quarterbacks. So because basically- Let me get a chair. Yeah, it was Kirk Cousins from 2018 up until 2023. Well, then that happened. Jaron Hall was the backup. And then we got Nick Mullins. And then we got Joshua Dobbs to finish out that season. 2024, we had Sam Darnold. And then the last couple seasons has been McCarthy, Wentz, Brosmer, and now Kyler Murray. And so now we come back to where this whole merry-go-round of quarterbacks began, what, three years ago. Exactly. And if this move works, it probably solidifies the footing of the head coach because we've heard it on our social media. We've heard it on radio stations. You know, if this team fell flat and it continued to fall the way it was headed, Then you would probably want to see changes of your leadership. They've already changed the general manager. So the next one to perhaps be talked about looking for work would have been the head coach, would have been the offensive coordinator. So I think this really gives them. A chance to reset and re-establish themselves with the offense, so you couldn't have found a better piece, I think, at least on paper, to plug in right now. I suppose not, no, then that begs the other question, what if this doesn't work? What if this all happens and people's expectations are high and then it still has got some sort A chemistry issue that we've seen with everybody else. What if it doesn't work? Or based on what you've seen with Cousins and with the Raiders, you just think it's gonna work. No, it's not just going to be, you know, walk right in and you're one of the best offenses in the league. It's going to take time. But this does show that the Vikings are willing to do what it takes, that they, too, realize what the fan base is seeing is that this is a dang good football team. You've won your first six games. You are sitting in their prime spot. You play in the toughest division in the National Football League, and you are right there. So if they sat there and just said, well, we didn't wanna overpay and so we're gonna go with this, then yeah, they're putting their heads, their necks out there to get chopped off. But by doing this, and it still doesn't work, you can at least say, okay, we tried and you're going to have to try something else. But I think Cousins is a free agent at the end of this year too. So they'll have to work on that. But who cares right now? Let's just beat the Packers because that is priority one in life. If you're a Minnesotan is to win those two games against Green Bay. You got one. Now let's try and go get the other. So we can relax and enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas with our friends from the state to the east. Yeah, and if we go to Lambeau with cousins at the helm and we beat the Packers, we're gonna hear immediately after the game. What's that? You like that? That's what we're gonna hear, that's coming back. Indeed, I like that. Yeah, all right, well, when do we expect to hear something from the Minnesota Vikings? I mean, based on their history, how soon are we gonna hear Hear them come. It's going to be pretty quick because it's got to go through the league, right? They've got to look at the, you know, parameters of what you're offering. And yes, you do indeed have a third round pick that you're trading away. This is the one you're doing. Okay. And then Cousins has to take a physical here just to make sure that there's no underlying factors. So there's a couple of steps, but I would think Kirk is looking for the nearest airport and is on his way to Minnesota. As we speak. Yeah, well, that'll be interesting. All right, well, more to come. Stay tuned to All Day All Afternoon as we'll continue to cover this blockbuster. I don't know if you call it a blockbuster trade, but it's big news in the NFL. It feels like it. Yeah. It feels like it. And you know what, the Vikings, they may even talk this afternoon, but more than likely it won't be until tomorrow when Kevin O'Connell has his weekly presser. And you'll probably hear from Kirk Cousins then. So I don't think we'll hear anything from the club tonight, but you never know. Maybe they'll want to jump on this and try to build momentum and get everybody feeling good about the team. Well, yeah, the quicker you can get on something and make people forget about last night, the sooner the better on that. All right, Jim, we'll let you get back to it unless there's nothing to get back to. But I know you're covering Gopher hockey, so we appreciate you taking the time to talk Vikings football. You bet, thanks so much for the time Rob. Busy afternoon, all right.