Kirk Cousins is the first quarterback with 20 TD passes to change teams midseason

Published November 15, 2026 12:09 PM It was a crazy week for the Vikings and for quarterback Kirk Cousins. The Tuesday trade that brought Cousins back to Minnesota three years after he played his last game for the Vikings has created a strange kind of history.Cousins, per NBC Sports research, is the first quarterback with 20 touchdown passes to change teams during a season.He ranks second in the league entering his first game with the Vikings, after nine games with the Raiders. And, given the placement of the byes, Cousins will be able to play in up to 18 games.The most pressing question is whether the plug-and-play in purple will work. He ranked fourth in the league in passing yards (23,265) and touchdown passes (171) during his six years with Minnesota.His return happens where his most recent game with the Vikings occurred; during Week 8 of the 2023 season, Cousins tore an Achilles tendon after throwing for 274 yards and two touchdown passes. The bad news is that receiver Jordan Addison will miss Sunday’s game with a thumb injury. During Cousins’s last full game with the Vikings, he found Addison seven times for 123 yards and two touchdowns. In that Monday night game against the 49ers, Cousins didn’t have Justin Jefferson available. Jefferson is obviously available today, and the Cousins-to-Jefferson connection could be critical as to whether the Vikings can reverse a two-game losing streak.