Minnesota / The return of No. 8
Kirk Cousins Returns to Vikings: No. 8 and “You Like That?”
A trade brought Cousins back. A rookie handed him his old number. Then Creed came over the practice speakers.
Ellie Shirt Editorial · November 13, 2026
Kirk Cousins said he was halfway through breakfast in Las Vegas when Raiders coach Klint Kubiak called. By the next day, Cousins was answering questions at the Vikings’ facility in Eagan. On Thursday, he walked out to practice in No. 8 while Creed’s “Higher” played over the speakers. The trade had been official news for two days. The number and the song made the return feel familiar in a way a roster announcement couldn’t. See FOX 9’s account of the first practice.
Minnesota acquired Cousins from Las Vegas on November 10, 2026, for a 2027 third-round pick. He’d spent six seasons with the Vikings from 2018 through 2023 before playing for Atlanta and then the Raiders. This was a trade, not a free-agent signing. For fans who still had No. 8 in the closet, the Minnesota Vikings collection suddenly had an old reference with a new date attached. See the Vikings’ transaction log.
“You Like That?” started in a Washington tunnel
On October 25, 2015, Washington trailed Tampa Bay 24–0 and came back to win 31–30. Cousins threw for 317 yards and three touchdowns, then shouted “You like that?” in the tunnel at FedEx Field. The clip spread on Vine. The phrase wasn’t a Minnesota chant when he said it, and it wasn’t something he came up with after the 2026 trade. It had already followed him from one team to the next for more than a decade. Read the original Washington Post report.
The question survives because it doesn’t need much setup. After that first comeback it sounded like a player answering his critics. On a Minnesota homecoming design, the same words can sound like a fan looking around at a room that didn’t expect to see him back.
What No. 8 meant the second time around
Rookie safety Jakobe Thomas had been wearing No. 8. He gave it back to Cousins without asking for payment and moved to No. 6. That solved a practical question for the roster and answered a more sentimental one for fans. The number on an old jersey was current again. The first practice made the connection visible, and the return of “Higher,” a running joke from 2023, made it audible. See Minnesota’s jersey-number announcement.
There was a football reason for bringing back a familiar face. Cousins started 25 regular-season games under Kevin O’Connell in his previous stint and already knew several of the players he would be throwing to. There was also a wrinkle in the schedule. The Vikings’ next game was at Lambeau Field, where his first Minnesota stint had effectively ended with a torn Achilles in 2023. The place could make the return feel like a full circle before he’d taken another game snap for the team. It couldn’t tell anyone how the next chapter would go.
“But you have to go make it mean something with the way you play.” Kirk Cousins on returning to Lambeau in purple, via Vikings.com
Two designs remember the return differently
“You Like That?” gives the story a soundtrack of its own. It takes the words that followed Cousins from Washington and puts them back in a Minnesota setting. The passing design centers the other detail people recognized immediately: Cousins in No. 8, with the ball in his hand. One works if you can still hear the tunnel clip. The other works if the number is all you need.
Questions about Kirk Cousins’s Vikings return
How did Kirk Cousins return to Minnesota?
The Vikings acquired him from the Las Vegas Raiders on November 10, 2026, in exchange for a 2027 third-round pick.
Did Kirk Cousins get No. 8 back?
Yes. Minnesota confirmed on November 12 that Cousins would again wear No. 8. Rookie safety Jakobe Thomas moved to No. 6.
Where did “You Like That?” come from?
Cousins shouted it in the tunnel after Washington came back from 24–0 down to beat Tampa Bay 31–30 on October 25, 2015.
What song played at his first Vikings practice back?
The Vikings played Creed’s “Higher” at his first practice back on November 12, 2026, recalling a running joke from his previous Minnesota stint.
Browse Kirk Cousins designs or explore more player stories in the NFL collection.