How much of a raise does Adam Thielen deserve in 2019?

The Minnesota Vikings will likely offer their talented wide receiver an extension this year and give him a salary that is a better match for his recent production out on the field.

Less than two years ago, the Minnesota Vikings and wide receiver Adam Thielen agreed to a three year, $27 million extension. At the time, it seemed like a great deal for both sides.

Thielen was coming off of a 2016 season that saw him haul in 69 passes for 967 yards and five touchdowns despite only being a starter in 10 of the Vikings’ 16 games. Little did Minnesota know, that was just a preview of what was to come for the hometown receiver.

In the last two years, Thielen has evolved into one of the best pass catchers in the entire NFL. Since 2017, the Vikings receiver has a total of 204 catches for 2,649 yards, and 13 touchdowns. Each of these totals are among the 10 most in the league during this time period.

For next season, Thielen is scheduled to make around $8 million. Currently, the veteran wide receiver is only the 10th-highest paid player on Minnesota’s roster for 2019.

However, this is expected to change by the time the Vikings take the field for their Week 1 matchup next season. Minnesota is known for rewarding their own players with lucrative extensions (see Stefon Diggs, Harrison Smith, Everson Griffen, Linval Joseph, Kyle Rudolph, Danielle Hunter, and Eric Kendricks) and the same should be in line for Thielen this offseason.

So how much of a raise should the Vikings offer to their 28-year-old receiver?

Based on his production in the last two seasons, most would include Thielen among the 10 best receivers in the league right now. When looking at the 10-highest paid wide receivers in the NFL, each makes an average of around $14 million to $18 million per year.

One would assume that a new deal for Thielen would give him an average salary of at least $14 million per season. But it could end being even more too, so an extension that ends up paying him around $16 million per year wouldn’t be a huge surprise either.

Is Thielen worth this kind of money? Of course he is. Does Thielen deserve to be paid this much? Of course he does.

Extending Thielen should definitely be near the top of Minnesota’s list of priorities this offseason. They just have to figure out a way to create enough cap space to get a deal done with their top receiver.