The Minnesota Vikings are wasting no time with a familiar face. The team officially announced on Friday that Kirk Cousins will start at quarterback against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday at Lambeau Field, just days after acquiring the 38-year-old from the Las Vegas Raiders in a trade completed at the NFL deadline on Tuesday.
Minnesota, sitting at 6-2, is throwing Cousins straight into a divisional matchup with the 6-3 Packers without any easing-in period. When he takes the field, he will join Cam Newton with the Carolina Panthers and Boomer Esiason with the Cincinnati Bengals as the only quarterbacks since 1950 to start a game for a team in a second stint after winning 50 or more games with that franchise during their first tenure.
Head coach Kevin O'Connell praised how quickly his new, old quarterback has settled in during a compressed week of preparation. "Cannot give him enough credit for coming in here, how he's gone about the week, both him and the coaching staff getting him ready to go, using all the time we possibly can," O'Connell said during Friday's media availability. He added that the command Cousins showed stepping back into the huddle, with teammates both familiar and new, impressed everyone in the building.
The Vikings are counting on the four-time Pro Bowl selection to revive a sputtering offense. Minnesota has managed just 11 offensive touchdowns this season, tied with the winless 0-8 Los Angeles Chargers for the fewest in the league. Cousins, meanwhile, has produced 22 total touchdowns in 2026, and his 20 passing touchdowns rank second in the NFL, three behind Joe Burrow's league-leading 23 and one ahead of Jordan Love's 19.
The reunion figures to be welcome news for star wide receiver Justin Jefferson. Jefferson earned NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2022, his last season with a fully healthy Cousins, when he led the league in targets (184), catches (128), receiving yards (1,809) and receiving first downs (83). Cousins has averaged 98.9 passing yards per game to Jefferson over their careers, the most by any quarterback-receiver duo in NFL history among pairs with at least 50 games together.
Sunday's setting carries extra weight. Cousins' final start during his first Vikings tenure came at Lambeau Field against these same Packers in Week 8 of the 2023 season, when he tore his Achilles. In the time since, Minnesota has cycled through an NFL-high 17 starting quarterback changes, a carousel O'Connell hopes this move finally stops.
There is also a historical footnote in play. If the Vikings hold on and reach the postseason, Cousins could become the first quarterback in NFL history to start a playoff game in the same season in which he started games for multiple teams.
