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Vikings Finalizing Trade With Panthers to Bring Back Veteran WR Adam Thielen
After plenty of rumors this preseason, the Vikings finally added depth at the receiver position— and it's a familiar name for Minnesota fans.
On Wednesday NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported Minnesota was finalizing a trade with the Panthers to bring back veteran wideout Adam Thielen. The terms of the deal: the Vikings send a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 fourth-round pick in exchange for Thielen, a conditional 2026 seventh-round pick, and a conditional 2027 fifth-round pick.
Thielen spent 10 years with the Vikings before joining Carolina in free agency in 2023. Thielen was a fan favorite in Minnesota for those years. He attended Minnesota State and broke into the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Vikings. Thielen developed into a Pro Bowl-caliber wideout and was named to an All-Pro team in 2017.
He now returns as a needed depth piece for Minnesota. Justin Jefferson should be good to go for the regular season after missing most of the preseason with a lingering hamstring injury but No. 2 wideout Jordan Addison is set to miss the first three games of the season due to suspension. Thielen will fill in his spot until Addison returns, at which point the Vikings will enjoy the veteran's talents at the WR3 spot.
The big question was Thielen's contract. He signed a three-year $25 million deal with the Panthers in 2023 and renegotiated this offseason to play the 2025 season on a one-year $8.5 million deal. CBS's Jonathan Jones reported how that will shake out in the aftermath of the trade.
Vikings to Rework Adam Thielen's Contract
Per Jones, Minnesota will "rework" Thielen's deal as part of the trade. Jones also noted the Panthers will not be paying out any of the money from his contract, which was a possibility thrown around in the lead-up to the transaction.
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Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.