Re-grading the Vikings decisions during the 2019 offseason
By Chris Schad
Did Minnesota really have to extend Thielen?
While the free-agent moves were a bit puzzling for the Vikings, so too was their willingness to hand out contract extensions when they didn’t need to. The first deal that came to be was with Adam Thielen, who was hilariously underpaid, but he still had two years remaining on his deal.
Sure, it may have seemed unfair that Thielen was being paid less than Laquon Treadwell‘s signing bonus, but there was nothing forcing Minnesota to pay him more.
Thielen could have played out another year of his deal and barring a contract holdout in which he didn’t have much leverage, the Vikings could have preserved some of that money to field a legitimate offensive line.
Instead, Rob Brzezinski broke out his magic wand and decided to put Thielen’s new contract on the already maxed-out credit card for 2020.
After making $8 million last season, Thielen’s salary shoots up to $12 million this year. Following a 2019 campaign that was wiped out due to a hamstring injury, it’s curious to lock up a guy through 2024 that’s now on the wrong side of 30 especially when you’re transitioning to a run-first offense.
Spending money on Thielen isn’t a bad thing. But when there are giant holes elsewhere on the roster, it turns out to be a poor allocation of where that money could have been spent.