Vikings Misses and Myths: Tai Felton, Fire Kwesi, Adam Thielen Out
The Minnesota Vikings have five games left in a depressing 4-8 season, hoping to finish the campaign respectably and with signs of quarterback development. And because the year has bent so poorly, there are plenty of “Nopedy Nopes” in the team’s orbit.
Vikings misses and myths this week: Tai Felton buzz, “Fire Kwesi” chatter, and Adam Thielen fallout frame a dramatic stretch for the Minnesota Vikings.
These are this week’s nopedy nopes, also known as misses and myths.
Vikings Nopedy Nopes for Week 14
“Nopedy nopes” are Vikings-themed items from the week that were wrong, didn’t work out, or were flatly bombastic.
The Nopedy Nope: The Vikings drafted Tai Felton in Round 3 of the 2025 NFL Draft, meaning he’d contribute to the offense right away.
Rookies from Round 3 usually play their first year. That’s the expectation.
Felton has been the opposite. He’s played on offense just twice — once in a 37-point blowout in Week 3 when the Vikings still masqueraded as competent, and once in a drubbing at the Chargers. Minnesota rested starters in both games, and Felton logged 18 garbage-time snaps.
That was it. He’s a special teamer and nothing more. If the goal was a special teams contributor, those guys are available in Round 7 or off the undrafted wire. Minnesota spent a third-round pick on a punt gunner.
Felton’s only choice is patience. The Vikings’ season is shot — 4-8 through 13 weeks in a year that was supposed to produce playoff football — so the organization may eventually put him on the field simply because there’s nothing left to lose.
If you’re a Felton believer, the only remaining hope is that he’s a late-bloomer, misunderstood by the coaching staff. That’s the last possible card to play because he’s produced nothing on offense.
The Verdict: Nopedy nope on Felton, a 3rd-Rounder, having any meaningful offensive impact.
The Nopedy Nope: Minnesota is likely to terminate Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s contract because of a bad season.
As Minnesota’s season has swirled down the drain, plenty of fans have asked whether Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is the architect of the mess — a fair question, since he’s the top decision-maker.
But any termination chatter might be premature.
KSTP’s Darren Wolfson said on SKOR North this week, “There is inevitably going to be a fall guy, or two. Whether it’s the OL coach, special teams coordinator, there are going to be changes come January.” He added that he “hasn’t gotten the sense” that Adofo-Mensah will be fired.
Wolfson is one of the most plugged-in voices around the Vikings. If the GM were on the brink, he would hint at it.
On May 30, 2025, Mark and Zygi Wilf handed Adofo-Mensah a multi-year contract extension that kicks in after this season. The ownership group bought into his roster strategy, his process — everything that may now be viewed as a failure. That extension matters.
While it wouldn’t be unprecedented for the Wilfs to swallow the contract and move on, they also may stick with Adofo-Mensah to avoid a knee-jerk business move. Believe it or not, there’s a path where he self-corrects, acknowledges his mistakes, and learns from them. He doesn’t present as a stubborn personality.
And based on Wolfson’s comment, the Wilfs may allow that chance.
The Verdict: Nopedy nope (probably) on “Fire Kwesi.”
The Nopedy Nope: Adam Thielen would work out in his reunion stint with the Vikings.
The Thielen deal went down in late August, following weeks of chatter that Minnesota might bring its hometown receiver home. Carolina took home a 2026 fifth-rounder and a 2027 fourth, while the Vikings landed Thielen, a conditional 2026 seventh, and a 2027 fifth.
The assignment was simple: hold down WR2 while Jordan Addison served a three-game ban to open the year. Thielen didn’t come close.
He’s sitting at 8 grabs for 69 yards — a staggering indictment of the trade value — and the Vikings have reached the point of not even dressing him on Sundays. The initial logic checked out on paper, but hindsight confirms the deal was brutal.
There was also a performance trigger: if Thielen appeared in 10 games or fewer, Minnesota would pocket a sixth-rounder. He logged 11, which drops the return to a seventh. The Vikings effectively paid for nothing, and the downgrade of the pick stings even more. Thielen asked for his release this week, the Vikings said sure, and he now plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Verdict: Nopedy nope on the Thielen trade being wise, and nopepy nope on cutting ties before 10 games. The thing was bungled all around.
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