Adam Thielen On Amicable Split With Vikings

WR Adam Thielen couldn’t finish his career at Minnesota, but his story is no less a fairytale because of that.

As an undrafted free agent, Adam Thielen fought his way into his hometown Vikings team over a period of years.

Adam Thielen started out in Minnesota’s practice squad in 2013 and would eventually establish himself from 2016 onwards. He would go on to produce 534 catches for 6,682 yards, 55 touchdowns and two Pro Bowl selections.

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However, 2022 represented his lowest return in receiving yards and touchdowns in a season in which he was fully fit. At 33 years old, that was that for his time with the Vikings.

Now an elder statesman in the Carolina Panthers receiving corps, Thielen is sanguine about having to move on. 

“It was a bummer,” he said. 

“I didn’t want to leave Minnesota. I wanted to end my career there. Obviously, that would be the perfect fairy tale way to do it, right? But that’s not reality. I’m so thankful for that organization, (general manager) Kwesi (Adofo-Mensah) and (Kevin O’Connell) and the staff. The way they handled this throughout the process was first-class.”

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“You know, it’s really hard to explain the entire situation,” Thielen said. “I don’t think there was ever a point where I was unhappy with what I was doing. It was just pretty clear that they had a different vision for me than maybe I had for a way that I could help the team win games. There wasn’t a wrong thing. There wasn’t disrespect on either side. I think it was just time for both sides to move on.”