Vikings welcome back Kirk Cousins after trade: ‘We just acquired a really good football player’

Vikings welcome back Kirk Cousins after trade: ‘We just acquired a really good football player’ By KSTP Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins speaks during an NFL football press conference, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026, in Eagan, Minn., the day after being traded to the team by the Las Vegas Raiders. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) Kirk Cousins is officially back in Minnesota. The Vikings formally reintroduced their quarterback on Wednesday afternoon, a day after acquiring him in a deadline-day trade with the Las Vegas Raiders. RELATED: Vikings trade deadline: Minnesota reacquires Kirk Cousins from Raiders Watch his full press conference — which featured Cousins, General Manager Nolan Teasley and Head Coach Kevin O’Connell — above or read highlights from it below. Cousins: ‘Grateful to be back here’ “Being that it’s Veterans Day, I want to quickly mention my gratitude for our soldiers who protect us and give us the freedoms to be able to play professional football. So don’t want to ever lose sight of that privilege on a day like today. Grateful to be back. Certainly a unique feeling coming back into the building today. Want to say thank you to the Raiders for, you know, the opportunity they gave me this past offseason and the chance they gave me to play and the way that they handled with Minnesota, handled the last, whatever it was, 24 hours. So grateful for them and the people there.” On the trade: “You know, it was tough to leave a building that you’ve, you know, spent some time with the guys and built a rapport, but also knew I was headed to a building that also know a lot of guys and have a great rapport. And, you know, I’m grateful to be coming to a team that has a lot of ability, is well coached, that just has a lot of promise here in the back half of the season. So excited to be a part of it and to hopefully, you know, contribute the best I can. But really it’s about Trying to go 1-0 this week and putting in the work today to, to be able to do that. So take any questions you have.” MORE: Minnesota Vikings Coverage Did he ever think it was possible: “Well, I think you imagined it. I don’t know if you thought it was going to happen, but here we are.” Navigating the past 24 hours: “Well, it was a whirlwind yesterday and even this morning just trying to get everything logistically handled. But we’re diving in and going to make the most use of our time. I remember when we traded for T.J. (Hockenson) in ’22 and thinking, you know, I didn’t envy him at that time, you know, how much he had to do and how much he had to get caught up on and the effort the coaches put in to help him. I find myself in a similar role today. How quickly did the trade come together: “I went in to get breakfast and have my lift yesterday morning, and I was about halfway into my eggs and my phone started vibrating and it said Klint Kubiak on it. And I looked at my teammates and I said, I have a guess what this might mean, although he calls on occasion. So he said, are you in the building? I said, I am. He said, why don’t you come up? And my heart started beating a little faster and headed up there and talked to, to Spytek and Klint and had a, had a really good conversation. And they were just the pure class that they had been from day one.” Motivation for coming back: “Well, I think that, you know, it’s all about winning a Super Bowl. It always has been in every organization. When the year begins, we’re here to win football games and ultimately win a Super Bowl. So when you say how much of it is about that, I mean, that’s ultimately what you’re Building towards. Now, we can’t win the Super Bowl today. We can’t win it this Sunday. But, you know, you’re on a journey to try to get there. Every year I’ve been playing this league, that’s the journey you’re on. So that’s certainly where we want to go. But you can’t live January and February in November. So, you know, it’s about just taking the next step. And today is about having the best Wednesday we can have and go from there.” Ready to start Sunday? “It’s a fair question to ask. I don’t think I can give you a fair answer only because of how early in the week it is. So I got to get to work and I could have a better answer for you later in the week.” O’Connell “Good afternoon, everybody. I want to for sure start out and just recognize all of our, you know, current and former service members. Obviously, you know, such an impactful day for a lot of people. And it’s a great thing to take a moment and just say a quick thank you to all of them for their service. I know you guys just got a chance to talk I want to talk to Nolan about, you know, the trade for Kirk Cousins. You know, obviously spent, you know, a good part of the morning and a good part of the day with Kirk. It’s great to have him back in the building. You feel his energy right away. Just want to, you know, the trade deadline, especially when you play on Monday night, you know, it can be, you know, all hands on deck. And Nolan, the way his staff, the way they worked through it, both the preparation— Leading into it, the communication with not only myself but our coaching staff was just, you know, was just phenomenal and allowed us to, you know, really go through the process at a lot of different positions and really come to the conclusion that, you know, we could add a player like Kirk, which is obviously a really unique thing. You know, a player that’s familiar with obviously, you know, myself and members of our coaching staff, so many of our players in the locker room. Staff, people in the building, you know, he had such an impact on so many folks. Here it’s obviously going to be, you know, a little bit easier to get him acclimated and back up to speed, but it has been a little bit of time. He’s been calling plays, you know, in some different offenses over the last couple years. So we’re working through, you know, you know, just getting him comfortable, getting him up to speed. And he’s really smart. It’s, you know, a lot of things come back quick to him and You know, some of the things we’ve kind of grown and nuanced and subtle changes, making things more efficient or learnable over the years, you know, just getting them caught up to speed on that. But, you know, I do think it’s still too early to commit, you know, wholeheartedly to, you know, what the plan on Sunday looks like. But I will say, you know, excited about the opportunity of spending every moment we can between now and then to get him comfortable. And allow him to play for us this Sunday. So that’s what we’re working towards, but also want to be fair, you know, to Kirk and make sure he feels good about it going into Lambeau Field. We won’t be on the field until tomorrow, but did want to give you guys the projected injury report later this afternoon. I know you’ll get, but the one that I wanted to make sure I mentioned was Blake Cashman. You know, he did, you know, he had the Kind of the stinger evaluation going on and then did end up taking a hit or more than likely giving a hit late on that, later on in that game. And he is currently in the concussion protocol. So obviously with a short week, he’s doing really, really well, but I’ll keep you guys posted on him as we go through, go through the week. So significant divisional game. You know, we’re, we’re at a place where we’re a 6-2 football team coming off of, you know, a performance that we weren’t able to get it done really 2 straight weeks. And we’ve got to try to find a way in a really tough stretch of the year that we know we’re very fortunate, you know, to be where we’re at 8 games into the season. But, you know, the, the temporary momentum that we’re searching for and chasing is going to be a challenge against a team that might be playing as well as anybody in the National Football League right now. So Gotta, gotta go to work on a short week. We’ll get our guys ready to go and go compete.” What has Cousins done well this year: “Yeah