Vikings Waive Franchise Legend
Before the carnage in Seattle — it was utter carnage — the Minnesota Vikings released a list of deactivated players for the Week 13 contest, headlined by wide receiver Adam Thielen.
The Vikings lost in Seattle on Sunday, and along the way, the franchise decided to deactivate a player who will enter the Ring of Honor down the line.
Thielen rejoined the team that made him famous right before the start of the 2025 regular season, and three months later, the Vikings legend has been relegated to irrelevance.
Vikings Waive Adam Thielen
A sad sputter to the finish line for Thielen.
Vikings Cut Ties with Thielen
NFL Network‘s Tom Pelissero tweeted Monday morning, “The Vikings are waiving WR Adam Thielen, who approached the team about moving on last week. The team granted the request out of respect for Thielen and will allow him to finish out his final NFL season elsewhere.”
That’s a wrap; Thielen’s time in Minnesota is kaput.
No Thielen in Seattle
Thielen did not play in Week 13, a healthy scratch.
SI.com Joe Nelson wrote, “With five important players for Sunday’s game against the Seahawks, the Minnesota Vikings announced 90 minutes before kickoff that three are active and two have been ruled out, while one other prominent name has unexpectedly been added to the inactive list.”
“The unexpected player? Veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen is inactive for an undisclosed reason. He has just eight receptions for 69 yards this season after Minnesota traded multiple draft picks, including a fourth-rounder, for him during the preseason. Thielen played only three snaps last week against the Packers, and he hasn’t been on the field for more than 13 snaps in any game this season.”
The Vikings later lost 26-0.
The Explanation
So, what happened? Why was Thielen deactivated? The answer is simple: head coach Kevin O’Connell wanted it that way.
When asked, O’Connell told reporters after the game, “I’d just file it under a coach’s decision. Looking at where we were at some other positions around our roster, you’re just trying to do what you think is best to win and make sure you’ve got some depth at some other spots where guys were dealing with some things. That receiver position’s one that has stayed pretty remarkably healthy this year.”
A personal preference. The guy acquired in a deal centered around a 4th-Round draft pick wasn’t needed.
A Mind-Bogglingly Bad Trade
The Thielen trade occurred in late August, after some speculation that Minnesota would bring its guy home. The Panthers received a 2026 5th-Round draft pick and a 2027 4th-Round pick, while the Vikings got Thielen, a conditional 2026 7th-Round pick, and a 2027 5th-Round pick.
Thielen was supposed to take over the WR2 job for three weeks as Jordan Addison served a three-game suspension to start the season. He did no such thing.
Instead, Thielen has 8 receptions for 69 yards this season, an incredibly paltry total. In addition to the meager return on the trade, Minnesota has reached the point in 2025 where they don’t even bother playing Thielen on Sunday.
In retrospect, the trade was horrendous, even if it seemed like a wise idea at the time.
Deactivation as Mercy?
Comically, the Vikings spared Thielen the gruesome outcome of Week 13.
By the numbers, Minnesota fired up its worst offensive performance in franchise history on Sunday, according to DVOA. Thielen stood on the sidelines but wasn’t physically involved in the debacle. A bit of cruel mercy.
The Vikings will face the Washington Commanders next at U.S. Bank Stadium, and the game has quickly devolved into a contest concerning 2026 draft position. There is no silver lining for the 2025 team. Minnesota is cooked. Mathematical postseason elimination is right around the corner.
Janik Eckardt on Thielen
Our Janik Eckardt weighed in on Thielen’s healthy scratch: “The third-ranked receiving touchdown-getter in franchise history has caught eight passes this season for 69 yards. His season-best is 26 yards in Week 2, and he hasn’t eclipsed 16 yards in a game since Jordan Addison returned from his three-game suspension.”
“Since that Week 4 mark, he also hasn’t registered more than 14 offensive snaps in a single game. It may be a hard pill to swallow for Skol Nation, but Thielen’s career is coming to an end. At the age of 35, that’s no surprise. In hindsight, however, trading a couple of draft picks to Carolina to acquire the player was a massive mistake, though.”
Thielen is likely to retire in the offseason.
“It’s just one of many blunders the Vikings made between March and September, and those moves certainly played a role in the disappointing season. At the time, the Vikings were a little short-handed in the WR room. Jefferson and Nailor both had missed time in training camp, and Addison was scheduled to miss the first three games due to his suspension,” Eckardt continued.
“Thielen, who was still efficient last year with the Panthers, was supposed to provide a pair of reliable hands for young signal-caller J.J. McCarthy. Those reliable hands have disappeared. He dropped several passes in his 12 NFL seasons (13 if we count the year on the practice squad in 2013).”
It’s another bizarre turn of events for a 2025 Vikings club that doesn’t need any more bizarre turns of events.
Perhaps Thielen will latch onto a Super Bowl-contending team this week.
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