The Minnesota man is headed back home to potentially finish his career in purple and gold.
The Vikings acquired former star Adam Thielen from the Panthers on Wednesday for a 2026 fifth-round pick and 2027 fourth-round selection in exchange for the veteran wideout, a conditional 2026 seventh-round choice and a 2027 fifth-round pick, according to the team.
There seemed to be some traction toward a deal last week, but the teams ultimately completed the deal after Tuesday’s 53-man roster deadline.
Thielen, 35, starred for the Vikings from 2014-22 after going undrafted out of Minnesota State.
The Detroit Lakes, Minn. native attended a rookie tryout and spent the 2013 season on the practice squad before becoming one of the team’s premier players.
He tallied 534 catches for 6,682 yards and 55 touchdowns during his first stint in Minnesota, including back-to-back seasons with at least 1,250 yards spanning 2017-18.
Thielen posted his best season in 2018 when he grabbed a career-high 113 passes for a career-best 1,373 yards and nine touchdowns.
He ranks third on the team’s all-time catches list, behind only Hall of Famers Chris Carter and Randy Moss, and now has a shot to pass Moss (587) for second place.
The Vikings released Thielen in March 2023 in a salary-cap move, and he signed a three-year, $25 million deal with Carolina.
Thielen tallied 103 catches for 1,1014 yards and four touchdowns in his first season in Carolina, while adding 48 catches for 615 yards and five scores last year while being limited to 10 games.
He joins a Vikings team that made the playoffs last year but lost in the Wild Card round, and will form a formidable trio with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison once the latter returns from a three-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
Minnesota will pay the roughly $7 million remaining on Thielen’s contract, per ESPN.
In moving Thielen, Carolina is embracing a youth movement among its receivers with first-round rookie Tetairoa McMillan, second-year player Jalen Coker and 2024 first-rounder Xavier Legette.
