Vikings Rumors Zero In on Adam Thielen Trade Fallout, Mock Draft Immortality, Tedy Bruschi
The Minnesota Vikings’ offseason is about a month out, and it’s shaping up to be chaotic and interesting. The front office has major decisions stacked up, and the rumor cycle that hit this week barely scratches the surface.
Vikings rumors hone in on the Adam Thielen trade fallout, mock draft immortality, and Tedy Bruschi’s remarks as the Minnesota Vikings brace for key decisions.
Here’s the rundown of the latest talk, a few hours before Minnesota hosts the Washington Commanders at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Vikings Rumors for Sunday, December 7th, 2025
It’s the second batch of the Purple Rumor Mill for Week 14.
Rumor: Adam Thielen played too many games for the Vikings to maximize their haul from the trade.
Because Thielen is 35, the trade back in August was loosey goosey from the jump. Minnesota needed a temporary WR2 during Jordan Addison’s three-game suspension, so most fans shrugged and moved on. In hindsight, the original confusion was justified.
The Charlotte Observer’s Mike Clay noted this week after Thielen signed with the Steelers: “Forgot to update this last week: Thielen has now played 11 games. Conditional pick is solidified as a seventh-round selection from Panthers.”
SI.com’s Albert Breer highlighted the bigger picture: “The Panthers turned their seventh-rounder this year into a fifth-rounder, and their fifth-rounder in 2027 into a fourth-rounder in the trade (All picks are the teams’ slotted picks). Thielen had 8 catches for 69 yards this year for the Vikings.”
So yes — Minnesota got worked.
Because Thielen is 35, the trade never made much sense. But with Addison sidelined, the Vikings tried to plug a hole and hope it held. Now zoom ahead three months: Thielen is gone. Minnesota needed him to play 10 games to secure a sixth-round pick. He played 11. The compensation dropped to a 7th-Rounder.
And although Thielen didn’t make the waiver request until after 11 games, the compensation math is cruelly simple: if Minnesota had cut him one game earlier, they would’ve banked a sixth. Instead, they’re stuck with a 7th, not a 6th-Rounder.
Rumor: Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love is the mock draft darling for Minnesota.
RB-hungry franchises will chase Love aggressively, and The Athletic‘s Dane Brugler believes the Vikings belong in that group.
With Minnesota projected to pick 11th based on current records, Brugler mocked Love to the Vikings and remarked, “Like Downs, Love is one of the best players in the draft but positional value will limit his landing spots in the top half of Round 1.”
“Here, that just means the Vikings get value by adding the draft’s most explosive offensive weapon — a versatile back who’d help both the run and pass games.”
Love would immediately become Minnesota’s RB1 for the long haul, with veterans like Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason supplying the support cast behind him in 2026.
If the Vikings want to re-energize their fanbase after a lousy season, the formula is simple: draft Jeremiyah Love. This roster is starved for a true difference-maker at running back. Love gives Minnesota that. Quarterback play has cratered this year, and onboarding a young offensive spark is the best way to jump-start improvement.
And if Minnesota wins a couple games over the next five weeks — essentially avoiding a tank — Love’s spot on the draft board will align perfectly with need and best-player-available logic.
Nobody will complain seeing Jeremiyah Love on the 2026 depth chart.
Rumor: Per Tedy Bruschi, Kevin O’Connell is sabotaging J.J. McCarthy
On last week’s installment of Sunday NFL Countdown, Tedy Bruschi wasn’t presenting breaking news — he clearly labeled what he said as opinion, not gospel.
On ESPN, he stated, “In my opinion, Kevin O’Connell calculatedly sold out the quarterback that they decided to keep, and that was J.J. McCarthy. Because, when you’re talking about which way your foot’s pointing, your base, your leg kick; Kevin let everyone inside to what he was thinking about his very own first round pick quarterback, and the guy who is going to be his quarterback for the next ten years.”
“This is what’s wrong with this kid and this is why I can’t coach this kid. This is why the cement’s not drying. These aren’t my words. This is what Kevin O’Connell said. What I take those comments as, is maybe Kevin O’Connell wasn’t happy with the whole decision too, because we obviously know what the fundamental problems are with J.J. McCarthy as a quarterback.”
That’s not a casual opinion — especially from someone who rarely fires off wild theories.
So what is Bruschi actually insinuating? According to him, O’Connell deliberately slipped barbs toward his own handpicked passer and, by doing so, revealed he may never have wanted McCarthy to begin with.
There have been low-level whispers since 2023 suggesting O’Connell preferred to keep Kirk Cousins in 2024 and Sam Darnold in 2025. Maybe those theories are true.
If Bruschi’s intuition is accurate — and that’s a major “if” — then O’Connell is subtly airing frustration with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s decision rather than fully embracing the quarterback he was given. It borders on conspiracy territory, but that’s the takeaway Bruschi practically handed to ESPN viewers.
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