Adam Thielen Sure Had a Good Day
For non-free-agents at this time on the NFL calendar, contract dealings typically involve restructures where a player’s money is moved around.
Adam Thielen Sure Had a Good Day
But not former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen. He reportedly received a pay raise on Wednesday, a sweet development for a man who will turn 35 this summer.
The Athletic‘s Joe Person tweeted, “The Panthers plan to give him a pay bump. Thielen was set to make $6.75 million this year, including a $1.5M roster bonus that hits Saturday.”
“My understanding is Thielen’s contract will still void after this season. Revised contract is a way to reward him. This actually will add to his cap number. Thielen turns 35 in August and talked about retirement after this past season.”
Thielen left the Vikings after the 2022 campaign, latching onto the Panthers, a franchise that would draft quarterback Bryce Young about six weeks later. In Carolina, Thielen has been a part of five wins in two seasons when healthy.
NBC Sports‘ Michael David Smith wrote about the Thielen raise: “Thielen originally signed a three-year, $25 million contract with the Panthers in 2023. He has led the Panthers in receiving yards in each of his first two seasons in Carolina, and the Panthers see him as a key part of the ongoing development of quarterback Bryce Young. An extra investment in Thielen is an investment in the franchise’s future, even if Thielen doesn’t have many years left.”
Carolina finished 2024 on a relative upswing, winning four games after the start of November following a dastardly 1-7 beginning of the season. Many NFL pundits will pick the Panthers as a team to monitor in 2025.
The Thielen biography is everywhere and beloved, but the Minnesotan rose to power late in the 2015 season and clawed his way up Minnesota’s depth chart to WR1 by 2016. Thielen earned instant chemistry with then-QB1 Sam Bradford and took off as a household name in Minnesota and later the country.
An undrafted free agent in 2013, Thielen was “supposed to be” just a special teams guy for the Vikings, but he used the following three seasons to prove his legitimacy. He tallied 967 receiving yards in 2016 — while starting 10 games — and truly blossomed as the real deal in 2017, with 91 receptions for 1,276 yards and 4 touchdowns. Thielen and storybook passer Case Keenum created folkloric harmony, and Minnesota damn near won a Super Bowl in a season riddled by injuries — that it had no business even making the playoffs.
Thielen is the Vikings’ third-leading receiver in catches (534), third in receiving touchdowns (55), and fifth in receiving yards (6,682) throughout franchise history.
The Panthers signed Vikings outside linebacker Patrick Jones II this week to a two-year deal.
Thielen tabulated 615 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns in 10 games last season.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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