The trade that sent Adam Thielen back to the Minnesota Vikings was a heartwarming moment in a sport that’s so often cruel and uncaring. The veteran wide receiver brimmed with joy, thanked the Carolina Panthers for fulfilling his wish to return, and gleefully mentioned on social media that his son “might cry when they tell him the news after school,” such was the young boy’s desire to return “home” after a stint in Charlotte.
Three months later the feel good vibes evaporated in an instant, but they’d been brewing long before that. Minnesota unceremoniously waived Thielen on Monday, following a Sunday afternoon where a franchise legend was a healthy scratch. Thielen wanted to be on a competitive team, and the Vikings granted that wish — but that doesn’t change how fundamentally wrong the Vikings’ coaching staff had done by Adam Thielen this season.
When Thielen was traded it felt like a natural fit. He would be able to start across from Justin Jefferson to kick off the year while Jordan Addison served a two game suspension, then he would pivot to either the slot receiver role when Addison returned — or potentially still play on the outside while Addison was kicked inside to diversify the passing offense. Moreover, it gave the offense a steady, veteran receiver with a knack for communicating a receiver’s vision of football to a young quarterback, which is what made him so valuable in Carolina with Bryce Young. If Jefferson and Addison would be the sizzle for J.J. McCarthy’s development, then Thielen would be the steak.
To make this happen the Vikings traded a 4th round pick in 2026, a 5th round pick in 2026 — and took the Panthers’ 5th with Thielen in return. We don’t need to litigate the myriad problems the Vikings have had this season, but suffice it to say that Minnesota is not a competitive team. What’s so bizarre about this whole scenario is that at no point did Minnesota even try to make Thielen a part of the offense. The more they struggled, the deeper in the weeds they got, the more they seemingly needed a reliable hand at WR to steady the ship — the more Thielen became an afterthought.
What began as a chance to ride off into the sunset on a playoff team in a homecoming for the ages, instead has thrown the 35-year-old receiver into the open market. His stat sheet in 2025: 18 targets, 8 receptions, 69 yards.
The lack of production from Thielen has been so profound that it’s difficult to see it as anything but a slap in the face. Running back Aaron Jones got 12 more targets that he did in the passing game, and Jones isn’t really a dual back. Jalen Nailor effectively took his job immediately, starting more games than the veteran, and receiving more than double the targets. Hell, even Jordan Mason, the Vikings’ bowling ball-esque short yardage back got roughly the same number of opportunities in the passing game (15 targets) as Thielen did.
With all that in mind it’s difficult to see this whole process as profoundly disrespectful. There have been plenty of bad teams who give the veteran’s rub to franchise legends on their way out the door in losing seasons, but for whatever reason Thielen has not once, but twice been snubbed by the current Vikings’ brain trust — first being released as a cap move in 2023, then brought back and ignored. It’s a far cry from the effusive praise GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah offered Thielen when he was released two years ago:
“Adam will forever be a part of the Minnesota Vikings family and history. Setting the standard with his play on the field, being a selfless teammate, and making a permanent impact in the community, Adam’s influence is significant. We are grateful for everything he brought to the Vikings organization since arriving in 2013, and I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to work with him over the last year. He is the best representation of what the Minnesota Vikings should stand for.”
Thielen’s motivation throughout has been fairly simple: He believed he could play at a high level when the Vikings didn’t, and went on to show that in Carolina with a 1,000 yard season in 2023, and another which would have gone for another 1,000 if not for missing seven games due to injury. Had he stayed with the Panthers there’s a very real chance we’re talking about the Panthers as NFC South leaders right now, with early season losses to Arizona and Jacksonville being due in part to having devastating injuries at receiver to start the year, which forced the Panthers to start Hunter Renfrow when he had no business playing the position.
Instead he got a tear-filled homecoming, only to realize that when he arrived nobody really wanted him. The question is: Why the hell did the Vikings trade for Thielen at all if they had no intention of using him? In what capacity did head coach Kevin O’Connell look at the struggles of his quarterbacks and think that there was no way Thielen could have helped?
Sure, they granted Thielen his release so he can try and join a contender for a playoff run, and that’s great — but it doesn’t override the fact that the veteran receiver was balled up and tossed aside like an old piece of notebook paper. The good news for all this is that someone in the NFL is going to get a big-time boost for a playoff run, but who?
This landing spot makes a ton of sense. We know Drake Maye loves to stretch the field and throw deep, but one thing the Pats lack is that reliable, short-yardage wide receiver with soft hands who can pick up those crucial 3rd-and-6 type downs to extend drives. Tight end Hunter Henry currently fills this role, but there’s absolutely no reason Thielen wouldn’t be a big-time addition to make those hero plays that could take a very good Patriots team, and turn them into a Super Bowl contender.
The kneejerk reaction might lead you to say “the Bills,” because they are in dire need of receiver help — but it’s not a great fit. The Bills have a lot of guys on the roster who are essentially 35-year-old Adam Thielens, all solid in short down situations, but nobody who can really stretch the field. It’s for this reason I’m ruling out the Bills.
We will perennially mention the Baltimore Ravens when it comes to teams needing a receiver. At this point the team has to just acknowledge that Rashod Bateman was a bust, and stop giving him opportunities to screw things up. That leaves the Ravens with Zay Flowers and DeAndre Hopkins, then we move to the two excellent tight ends in Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely. This team needs another sure-handed receiver to give Lamar Jackson options when he’s trying to make plays out of structure, and this is something Thielen did very well with Bryce Young under center.
It would be poetic and extremely weird to have this all come full circle. It’s unclear if the Panthers would fit Thielen’s “competitive” desire, but there’s a chance. Carolina seems relatively set at WR, but they are severely lacking a consistent short yardage target — much like the Patriots are. Tetairoa McMillian is having a rookie of the year-worthy season, but he’s getting doubled so often in the offense that he can’t really work in short space. There’s a solid reason to think this reunion could work, but that assumes a better offer isn’t out there.
