ESPN: Vikings get high grade for Thielen trade

[StickierBuns]

Vikings bring back WR Thielen from Panthers
Vikings get: WR Adam Thielen, conditional 2026 seventh-round pick, 2027 fifth-round pick
Panthers get: 2026 fifth-round pick, 2027 fourth-round pick

Vikings grade: A-
Panthers grade: C+

The Vikings have re-united with their longtime receiver Adam Thielen. Assuming the conditions of the 2026 pick headed to Minnesota are met, the Vikings will have moved back two rounds in next year's draft and one round in 2027's draft to acquire the single year remaining on the 35-year-old receiver's contract.

This is fine business. The Vikings' receiver depth will be tested early this season, as WR3 speedster Jalen Nailor recovers from a hand injury and WR2 Jordan Addison serves a three-game suspension. Depth receiver Rondale Moore had a season-ending knee injury early this offseason, leaving rookie Tai Felton and veteran Tim Jones as the depth behind Justin Jefferson to start the season. Thielen should slot right into a familiar offense and provide a good safety blanket for young quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who needs strong early performances in September to boost his confidence and generate some positive momentum. I like the deal a lot for that reason: McCarthy won't spend the first three starts of his NFL career endeavoring to make up for bad receiver play.

This is actually a bigger risk for the Panthers than it appears. From Week 8 on last season -- the stretch in which quarterback Bryce Young came back and looked solid -- Thielen was the Panthers' best receiver. Sure, guys like Jalen Coker and Ja'Tavion Sanders were having breakout games, and the backs were getting involved as pass catchers, but it was Thielen who drove the ship. Thielen averaged 2.47 yards per route run in that stretch, which was the 14th best number in the NFL. He also caught 80% of his targets when Coker and Xavier Legette caught 63.2% and 56.4%, respectively. Thielen was so valuable that the Panthers gave him a raise in March worth $1.5 million to encourage him to stave off retirement.

The drafting of first-round receiver Tetairoa McMillan always foretold a decrease in target share for Thielen. But keeping Thielen around for another year would have helped smooth the transition. Now the Panthers enter the season with a starting receiver trio (McMillan, Coker and Legette) full of big-play potential but no proven chemistry with Young over the middle of the field. That's an important cornerstone of the Panthers' offensive system that needs replacing. -- Solak

[purplefaithful]

Decent take imo...

I'm warming-up to Theilen being back. I think JJM is probably the biggest cheerleader of this. He's been quiet on the topic so far - that I know of. I'll bet Jetta is relieved too

Man, that WR room was thin indeed. I might have made the squad - post surgery even!

[MaroonBells]

After watching Thielen's highlights from last season, I'm more excited about the move. I lost track of him after he left Minnesota, but I was surprised at how quick he still was at 34. That's typically the cliff for WRs, but I suspect Adam takes care of his body better than most. His routes are still nasty, his gift for finding gaps in a zone is still there, as are his hands and ball skills. 

Kinda makes me wonder if the Vikings weren't too enthused about trading for Adam, and then they watched his film. The guy's still got it. Or at least he did last year.

[StickierBuns]

Happy for this guy, he said its been 'surreal'....

[purplefaithful]

Hometown, beloved guy no doubt...

I hope they introduce the offense at the home opener. That'll be a hell of a game too!!

[StickierBuns]

I hope they introduce the offense at the home opener.

Oh, sweet summer child.....this is a 100% mortal lock. I think the dude might still have a little gas.

[purplefaithful]

Adam Thielen, back in purple No. 19, is happy to be home with the Vikings after an ‘emotional’ wait

Thielen, the Detroit Lakes native and Minnesota State Mankato product, hopes to create more lifelong memories in his purple No. 19, in which he’s already logged the third-most receptions (534) and receiving touchdowns (55) in Vikings franchise history over the first 10 years of his NFL career.

He arrives for his 13th NFL season to a Vikings offense in desperate need of his immediate help. No. 2 receiver Jordan Addison is suspended for the first three games and No. 3 receiver Jalen Nailor is nursing a left hand injury. Free-agent addition Rondale Moore suffered a season-ending knee injury in the preseason.

Those circumstances led to the Vikings prying Thielen away from the Panthers, where he remained a valued contributor for young quarterback Bryce Young. Thielen described an “emotional few days” for him and his family as Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Panthers General Manager Dan Morgan worked on a deal.

Adofo-Mensah eventually agreed to send two draft picks — a 2026 fifth-rounder and a 2027 fourth-rounder — for Thielen, a 2027 fifth, and a conditional 2026 seventh.

Thielen, cut by the Vikings in March 2023, didn’t think he’d ever come back to play in Minnesota.

“That’s why it makes it so crazy,” Thielen said. “I just didn’t think that this was even a possibility. I thought the next time I would be talking to you guys was when I was signing a one-day contract and retiring. This is pretty surreal. I’m going to take advantage of every second I’m back in this building.”

“Because I knew there was a very realistic possibility that this would not happen,” he added.

Thielen, jubilant to return, long ago put away the frustration of getting cut after the 2022 season — head coach Kevin O’Connell’s first in Minnesota. He previously told the Minnesota Star Tribune that he sent messages to O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah during the 2023 season to relay “no hard feelings.”

“You don’t ever forget impacts on you like one I had with Adam Thielen,” O’Connell said. “There’s so many things about him, it’s his energy every day — we felt it yesterday as soon as he arrived. It’s his love of football and his journey and what his journey specifically means to our organization and our fans, and I know how much he’s going to mean to our football team.”

Thielen knows the basics of the offense. He has also already caught passes from quarterback J.J. McCarthy.

The two trained together each of the past two summers when Vikings players and friends gather before training camps begin. In July, they trained on the fields at Woodbury High School.

“When we were working out there was no thought of ever actually playing together,” Thielen said. “So much respect for him, how he approaches the game — even in the summer months when he doesn’t really have to do those things. But just his work ethic, his mindset, his communication.”

One reason for Thielen’s excitement is a reunion with friend and all-world receiver Justin Jefferson. Thielen likened it to two old college buddies getting back together.

“Like it was just yesterday,” Thielen said. “It was like we’d never been on a different team.”

Thielen averaged about 60 yards per game over two seasons in Carolina, where he was the go-to target for Young. O’Connell said Thielen still has something left in the tank and could help the Vikings even after Addison returns from his suspension.

“There’s just some great tape of him doing all of the things that we’re going to need him to do for us,” O’Connell said.

He added that the team remains confident in Nailor and that Addison “might have had one of the best training camps out of anybody on our roster, so when he returns and hits the ground running, I view it as a really good problem to find roles.”

Thielen described the last two years as a galvanizing experience for his family of five, leaving Minnesota for the first time to embark on their own in a new city. He said that they built strong connections in North Carolina, but that the time away also gave him new appreciation for returning home.

“So much growth and just a different perspective on life, on football, this organization, this city, this state, what it means to us,” Thielen said. “I’m going to make sure this emotion doesn’t just fade away.”

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