{"id":858914,"date":"2026-04-07T12:54:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T12:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/858914\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T12:54:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T12:54:17","slug":"former-vikings-qb-kirk-cousins-speaks-out-on-raiders-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/858914\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Vikings QB Kirk Cousins Speaks Out on Raiders Decision"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2182722250-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins.\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins is opening up about heading to the Las Vegas Raiders as he officially signs.<\/p>\n<p>As of Monday, April 6, former <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/minnesota-vikings\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Minnesota Vikings<\/a> quarterback <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/kirk-cousins\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kirk Cousins<\/a> is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KBMAbAYJNz8\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">officially quarterback<\/a> for the <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/las-vegas-raiders\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Las Vegas Raiders<\/a>. Cousins signed his deal with the team under bright lights on Monday, and in doing so, he shared a message with the world about how he feels about the decision.<\/p>\n<p>Cousins comes to the Las Vegas Raiders following a two-year run with the <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/atlanta-falcons\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Atlanta Falcons<\/a>. Over the course of his career, including his time with the Vikings, Cousins\u2019 regular season stats show that he\u2019s notched 44,700 passing yards, 298 touchdowns and a completion percentage of 66.7 percent in 174 games, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/stats\/_\/id\/14880\/kirk-cousins\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">according to NFL research<\/a>. He owns passer rating of 96.8 yards per attempt, as well.<\/p>\n<p>Now, he\u2019ll bring that talent and know-how to the Raiders. Cousins\u2019 deal with Las Vegas is a five-year, $172 million deal, but functions as a one-year, $20 million fully guaranteed deal for the 2026-27 season, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/48376719\/kirk-cousins-agrees-sign-contract-raiders-agent-says\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">according to statistics from ESPN<\/a>. The contract also includes \u201ca club option for two years at $80 million and could be worth up to $172 million over five years,\u201d a source told ESPN. But, in reality, it\u2019s a one-year deal.<\/p>\n<p>Former Minnesota Vikings Quarterback Kirk Cousins Makes First Public Statement Since Joining Las Vegas Raiders<\/p>\n<p>So, on Monday, April 6, Cousins inked with the Raiders. In doing so, he sent a message to Raiders Nation.\u00a0\u201cThrilled to be here,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KBMAbAYJNz8\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cousins said to the cameras<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s such an iconic logo, iconic jerseys, so to get to be a part of it is a real privilege to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also talked about why he picked the Raiders over other teams. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/las-vegas-raiders\/kirk-cousins-fernando-mendoza-sitting\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/las-vegas-raiders\/kirk-cousins-fernando-mendoza-sitting\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">According to NFL insider Dianna Russini<\/a>, Cousins fielded interest from the <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/los-angeles-rams\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Los Angeles Rams<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/arizona-cardinals\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/arizona-cardinals\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Arizona Cardinals<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/green-bay-packers\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/green-bay-packers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Green Bay Packers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it starts with the coaching staff,\u201d Cousins told reporters. \u201cI was really excited about being able to work with coaches I worked before. Klint Kubiak, Rick Dennison, Andrew Janocko. I had some of my best years playing with them, and coaching is a big deal in this league.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Raiders\/status\/2041337671348600868\" rel=\"nofollow\">He added<\/a>, \u201cSo, getting around them excited me. And I think it\u2019s a team that has a lot of young talent and that they\u2019re building something special and I want to be a part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kirk Cousins Credits Klint Kubiak for Bringing Him to the Las Vegas Raiders<\/p>\n<p>Cousins continued to credit Kubiak for bringing him to Las Vegas, saying that a \u201cbig reason why I\u2019m sitting in this chair and I\u2019m now a Raider is because of Klint Kubiak.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can talk about him all I want, but my actions really show what I think of him by being here,\u201d Cousins added. \u201cGreat football mind, extremely hardworking.\u201d\u00a0Cousins also said that \u201cthere\u2019s a humility there that I deeply respect\u201d and that Kubiak is a \u201cgreat question asker. He wants to do what the quarterback\u2019s comfortable with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Raiders also made an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.raiders.com\/news\/raiders-sign-kirk-cousins-quarterback-nfl-2026-free-agency-transactions\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">official announcement about Cousins<\/a>. The quarterback hails from Holland, Michigan, and played college football at Michigan State University from 2007 to 2011, where he wrapped up his career as the university\u2019s all-time record holder, according to league research, in passing touchdowns at 66, passing yards at 9,131 and completions at 723.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/aericksonsports\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Anne Erickson<\/a> is an award-winning reporter for Heavy Sports covering the NFL, NBA and college football. Anne Erickson has years of experience covering the NFL and additional sports, and her work has been published via ESPN, Fox Sports and more. She has interviewed some of the biggest names in sports, including Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff. Erickson also hosts several podcasts and is a Detroit-based radio host. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/aericksonsports\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Anne Erickson<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Vikings\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins is opening up about heading to the Las Vegas Raiders as&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":858915,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2073],"tags":[7,233,259,2529,6,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-858914","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-vikings","11":"tag-minnesotavikings","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116363532161097363","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=858914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/858915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=858914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=858914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=858914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}