{"id":2310,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/2310","headline":"Kirk Cousins is back in Minnesota, and the Vikings are thrilled","dek":"The quarterback returns via a deadline-day trade from the Raiders, reuniting with coach Kevin O'Connell ahead of a matchup at Green Bay.","body":"Kirk Cousins is back with the Minnesota Vikings after not quite three years away, the result of a deadline-day trade with the Las Vegas Raiders that sent the quarterback-needy Vikings back to a familiar face. Cousins arrived at Vikings headquarters Wednesday and talked up his comfort level with coach Kevin O'Connell's offense, noting the two have a deep understanding of each other after their previous years together.\n\n\"Kevin knows what I do well. Kevin knows what I don't do well. Kevin knows what I can handle. Kevin knows what I can't handle,\" Cousins said. \"And I think that helps. Not just that he knows your strengths, but that he knows your weaknesses.\"\n\nO'Connell did not commit to Cousins starting Sunday against Green Bay.\n\nThe move has family buy-in too. Cousins said his wife picked up their kids from school and laid out the situation plainly: dad got traded to the Vikings. Their response, according to Cousins, was simply \"Let's go.\"\n\nFormer Vikings great Fran Tarkenton also weighed in, telling KSTP's Darren Wolfson the reunion was \"the greatest thing that could have happened to us,\" pointing to a Minnesota team with strong defense but no offensive answers before Cousins' return.","published_at":"2026-11-12T00:33:00.666659+00:00","source_count":3,"written_from":[{"outlet":"Fox Sports","publisher":"Fox Sports","title":"Kirk Cousins Relishes Kevin O'Connell's Familiarity Ahead Of Packers Matchup","url":"https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/cousins-rejoins-the-vikings-where-familiarity-and-comfort-will-help-him-prepare-to-play-the-packers"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Kirk Cousins’ kids have perfect 2-word reaction to trade back to Vikings","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/kirk-cousins-kids-perfect-2-235015520.html"},{"outlet":"Pro Football Talk","publisher":"NBC Sports","title":"Fran Tarkenton raves about Kirk Cousins's return to Minnesota","url":"https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/fran-tarkenton-raves-about-kirk-cousinss-return-to-minnesota"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Kirk Cousins Returns: Vikings Rescue Plan or Costly Gamble?","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/kirk-cousins-returns-vikings-rescue-233000816.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"‘Trying To Sneak Back in Like Nothing Happened,’ ‘You Have Zero Credibility’ — Fans React As Dianna Russini Reports First NFL News Since Mike Vrabel Scandal","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/trying-sneak-back-nothing-happened-000352888.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Fran Tarkenton raves about Kirk Cousins's return to Minnesota","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/fran-tarkenton-raves-kirk-cousinss-115500639.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Stephen A Smith says the Minnesota Vikings should be ‘ashamed’ of themselves","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/stephen-smith-says-minnesota-vikings-133500186.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Shipley: Once the purported answer to the Vikings’ Super Bowl dreams, Kirk Cousins is now the last best option","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/shipley-once-purported-answer-vikings-203600388.html"}],"image":{"url":"https://nbcsports.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/dc5500e/2147483647/strip/false/crop/1920x1080+0+0/resize/1920x1080!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhdliveextra-a.akamaihd.net%2FHD%2Fimage_sports%2FNBCU_Sports_Group_-_nbcsports%2F183%2F827%2Fnbc_pftpm_cousinstrade_261110.jpg","credit":"Pro Football Talk","width":1920},"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}