Grade the trade: Vikings get a throwback QB, deal with Raiders for old friend Kirk Cousins

After Monday night, the Minnesota Vikings knew they had to try to get a quarterback.

The Vikings traded for Kirk Cousins , who spent six of his 15 NFL seasons in Minnesota. They sent a third-round pick to the Raiders for the 38-year-old quarterback, via ESPN .

That should start the Fernando Mendoza era in Las Vegas, while giving the Vikings hope for fixing their offense and winning the NFC North.

Usually, viable quarterbacks aren't available in trade. Credit to the Vikings for getting a deal done.

After Minnesota watched Carson Wentz flounder around on Monday night , and after the team realized Kyler Murray wouldn't be the answer, a bold move was needed. Cousins has played pretty well this season, with 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He can come right in and run Kevin O'Connell's offense, which made him more valuable to Minnesota than some other teams.

The Vikings weren't going to be a Super Bowl contender with a treacherous quarterback situation. Cousins might not completely change that — he's still by far the fourth-best quarterback in a tough division — but it's well worth the price of a third-round pick to find out.

The Raiders played the Kirk Cousins/Fernando Mendoza situation perfectly, as it turns out.

They paid Cousins and gave him the first nine games of the season. With the Raiders slipping to 4-5 and their playoff hopes becoming more unrealistic, it was about time to turn the offense over to Mendoza anyway. So the Raiders paid for half of a season from Cousins and got a third-round pick out of it in the end. That's really smart business.

The Raiders might have Aidan O'Connell start for a few games if they truly don't think Mendoza, the first overall pick, is ready. Either way, Las Vegas was playing chess with how it got a valuable top-100 pick for a 38-year-old quarterback who was probably going to start only a few more games anyway.