Report: Vikings first reached out to Raiders about Kirk Cousins on "midday Monday"

As it turns out, the Vikings contacted the Raiders about a possible trade for quarterback Kirk Cousins before Monday night’s meltdown from quarterback Carson Wentz.

But not long before.

Via ESPNFL, the Vikings initially contacted the Raiders during “midday Monday,” prior to Minnesota’s Week 9 game against the Bills. The Vikings told the Raiders they wanted to see how things went during the Monday night game before having any further conversations.

Then came Wentz’s 8.9-passer rating performance in a 23-6 loss, and Minnesota mobilized. The Vikings, per the report, contacted the Raiders before 6:00 a.m. PT on Tuesday and commenced the talks that culminated in a deal being done.

Said Raiders G.M. John Spytek during a Tuesday press conference: “I never made one call on Kirk Cousins. And I got a few phone calls. But one real one this morning.”

The Vikings initially offered a fifth-round pick for Cousins, per the report. The report doesn’t specify the Raiders’ opening position.

Once the Vikings moved to a third-round pick, the Raiders pounced.

Beyond avoiding the $10 million guaranteed bonus and clearing the path for rookie No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza (which are mentioned in the article), the Raiders ultimately bought a third-round pick for $650,000 (which is not).

That’s the most attractive aspect of the entire transaction, in our view. Nearly 10 years ago, the Browns bought a second-round pick from the Texans by assuming quarterback Brock Osweiler’s $16 million full guarantee for the 2017 season. Any team would sprint for the chance to purchase a third-round pick in the 2027 draft for only $650,000.

In this case, that bargain came with nine starts from Cousins, four wins, and months of excellent mentorship for Mendoza.

As to the lingering sense in some circles that the Raiders could have gotten even more for Cousins, they risked driving a bargain so hard that the Vikings would have walked away and made a trade with another team.

So it was a win for the Vikings, who got their first choice. It was a win for the Raiders. And it definitely was a win for Cousins, who went from waiting to be benched for Mendoza to having nine games as the starter for a contender — plus the strong possibility that the Vikings will make the playoffs.