MINNEAPOLIS — Receiver Justin Jefferson was at home when he got word, presumably from coach Kevin O’Connell, that the Vikings had agreed to reacquire quarterback Kirk Cousins from the Las Vegas Raiders ahead of the NFL trade deadline this week.

Throughout trade talks, Jefferson said O’Connell was keeping him “in the loop” so that “my opinions on different stuff — it gets heard, so I appreciate that from him.”

His opinion on Cousins? Likely very positive given the memories that came flooding back to Jefferson upon getting word this week that they’re reuniting.

“When I heard it, it was kind of a flashback, honestly,” Jefferson said Thursday. “Thinking about all the different plays, all of the different things we accomplished when he was here.”

Did Jefferson think this day would ever come where they’re playing together again?

“Definitely not,” Jefferson said, “but it’s the NFL. It’s the business. You never really know what happens or the situation we could be in. It’s definitely a surreal moment for him to be here and hear his leadership and hear his control over the offense. It’s much-needed at this point in time to kind of switch things up. Hopefully he brings that juice, that energy and that leadership that we need.”

Let’s take a stroll down memory lane through 10 of the most memorable moments in Cousins’ first Vikings tenure from 2018 through 2023.

March 2018: Kirk Cousins signs historic $84 million contract with Vikings

Following a lopsided NFC championship game loss in Philadelphia, the Vikings and then-general manager Rick Spielman go all in to land free agency’s top available quarterback in Cousins, who agreed to a three-year, $84 million contract that was fully guaranteed. It marked the first of three consecutive contracts the Vikings signed with Cousins. Former Vikings quarterbacks Case Keenum (Broncos), Sam Bradford (Cardinals) and Teddy Bridgewater (Jets) all left to sign elsewhere in free agency that offseason.

December 2018: Vikings fire offensive coordinator after Cousins’ rocky start

After a 21-7 loss in Seattle in which the Vikings fell to 6-6-1 in a season with Super Bowl aspirations, former coach Mike Zimmer fired first-year offensive coordinator John DeFilippo and, without knowing it, ushered in three of Cousins’ next play callers. Interim coordinator Kevin Stefanski immediately got better results with Cousins at the end of the 2018 season, followed by the January 2019 hirings of Gary Kubiak and Klint Kubiak, whom Cousins played well for both during 2021 in Minnesota and this season in Las Vegas.

January 2020: Cousins delivers Vikings’ last playoff win against Saints

The Vikings’ banged-up defense without cornerbacks Mike Hughes and Mackensie Alexander deployed safety Andrew Sendejo in the slot against a prolific Saints offense. And thanks to pressure from Danielle Hunter and Everson Griffen up the middle, the defense held Drew Brees’ offense to just 10 points entering the fourth quarter. But a 10-point fourth quarter knotted the score and forced overtime.

In overtime, Cousins completed 4 of 5 passes for 63 yards and the game-winning touchdown to tight end Kyle Rudolph. It was Cousins’ only career playoff win and the Vikings’ most recent playoff win.

November 2020: Cousins finally breaks his ‘Monday Night Football’ curse

Cousins fell to 0-9 for his career on ‘Monday Night Football’ in December 2019. At the time, it felt like a low point in his Vikings tenure. The Packers walked into U.S. Bank Stadium, erased the Vikings’ 10-9 halftime lead and won the NFC North with a 23-10 win. Both Minnesota and Green Bay ended up losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs that year.

His first Monday night prime-time win came during the 2020 season in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. In front of empty Soldier Field seats in Chicago (as fans were still not allowed to attend), the Vikings improved to 4-5 after Cousins broke a 13-13 tie in the fourth quarter with a touchdown pass to receiver Adam Thielen.

January 2022: Cousins misses must-win Packers game after positive COVID test

Cousins started 107 of 109 games for the Vikings prior to the 2023 Achilles tear at Lambeau Field. Neither absence was due to injury. The first came as a healthy scratch, resting before the 2019-20 playoffs. The second came because of a positive COVID-19 test on New Years Eve in 2021, two days before the Vikings needed to win in Green Bay on a Sunday night to save their season. Minnesota was 7-8 in what became coach Mike Zimmer’s final Vikings season. Quarterback Sean Mannion, now the Eagles offensive coordinator, started and threw for 189 yards on 36 attempts in freezing temperatures. Mannion’s hand cramped, leading to third-round quarterback Kellen Mond’s only three snaps with the Vikings. Cousins’ unvaccinated status did not factor due to the timing of his positive test and the NFL’s COVID-19 quarantine protocols.

October 2022: ‘Kirko Chains’ is born, and a Vikings legend takes off

The viral sensation ‘Kirko Chains’ was born on a Vikings team flight back from London to Minneapolis following their Week 4 win over the New Orleans Saints (the ‘double doink’ game). It all started when cornerback Kris Boyd approached left tackle Christian Darrisaw and asked to wear his diamond chain with a large ‘CD’ pendant. Suddenly photos emerged of Cousins wearing multiple teammates’ chains and watches, embracing the ‘Kirko Chains’ persona that has followed him.

“[Boyd] asked me, ‘Can I put it on?’ ” Darrisaw told the Minnesota Star Tribune in 2022. “Kris Boyd being who Kris Boyd is, he’s like the energy guy in the locker room and everything like that: he told Kirk to put it on. Kirk was like, ‘Fine, I’ll put it on.’ It kind of took off from there. Every away game we win, Kirk got the chains on.”

December 2022: Cousins leads greatest comeback in NFL history against Colts

Myriad factors played into the Vikings falling down 33-0 to a Colts team that was being coached by interim leader and recent ESPN analyst Jeff Saturday, and quarterbacked by 37-year-old Matt Ryan in his final NFL season. They included a blocked punt returned for a Colts touchdown; cornerback Chandon Sullivan’s fumble returned for a touchdown called back because the Colts runner’s progress was ruled down; a pick-six by Cousins, who threw for what was then a career-high 460 yards, when receiver Jalen Reagor stopped a route; and running back Dalvin Cook’s fumble that set up a short field and a Colts touchdown.

Cousins threw four touchdowns — all in the second half of a furious comeback that started with receiver K.J. Osborn’s 63-yard catch and run. Jefferson’s triple-move route on Colts cornerback Stephon Gilmore added another touchdown. With 2:15 left, Cook’s 64-yard screen for a touchdown knotted the score at 36-36.

At the overtime coin toss, fullback C.J. Ham cheekily smirked at stone-faced Colts receiver Parris Campbell.

“I looked at him, I was hoping he would acknowledge it a little bit,” Ham told the Minnesota Star Tribune in 2024. “I was like, ‘Yeah, man, we’re here. All that just happened.’ ”

The game nearly ended in a tie before Cousins rattled off three completions for 49 yards, setting up the Vikings to take a 39-36 lead with seven seconds left in overtime.

January 2023: Cousins’ infamous fourth-down throw ends Vikings’ playoff run

Cousins’ second playoff appearance with the Vikings, and his first with O’Connell, saw then-coordinator Ed Donatell’s defense give up 431 yards and 31 points to the New York Giants. Among the memorable lapses on offense were a trick play in which Jefferson passed to Cousins for a 2-yard loss on third down and the fourth-and-8 play with 1:51 remaining down 31-24: Cousins threw to tight end T.J. Hockenson short of the sticks.

October 2023: Cousins tears Achilles against Packers at Lambeau Field

The Vikings were in control, leading 24-10 against the Packers, while trying to improve to 4-4 when Cousins’ right leg seemingly gave out as his cleat appeared to get stuck. He was sacked by Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark. Cousins would be diagnosed with a torn Achilles, marking his first season-ending injury in his ninth year as a full-time NFL starter. It was the last snap of his initial six-year run in Minnesota.

After the game, safety Joshua Metellus said he ran through the tunnel at Lambeau Field with a smile on his face until he saw right tackle Brian O’Neill.

“I was happy,” Metellus said. “I just seen the look on [O’Neill’s] face and he gave me the look like, ‘It’s not good.’ ... We go into the locker room, it didn’t feel like we won. It felt like the season was over.”

March 2024: Cousins leaves Vikings for Falcons, opening door for Sam Darnold

The Vikings offered Cousins a deal to return, but the Atlanta Falcons put down a whopping $100 million guaranteed coming off the Achilles injury. The next day, the Vikings agreed to terms with free agent quarterback Sam Darnold on a one-year deal worth $10 million. Darnold obviously went on to throw for over 4,300 yards and 35 touchdowns during a 14-win season for the Vikings. Minnesota opted not to tag or extend Darnold following a playoff loss to the Rams, and last year he won 14 games and a Super Bowl with Seattle. Cousins went 12-10 as the Falcons starter before he was released after two years.

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