3 Vikings players who could be shocking cuts in 2021

Adam Thielen – WR

Before everyone starts to freak out, the Vikings would probably have to be in a desperate situation to release or trade Adam Thielen in 2021.

But with Thielen turning 30 in a few weeks combined with the injury-plagued season he just had in addition to the salary cap potentially dropping down to $175 million, the possibility of Minnesota letting go of their top wide receiver next year is something that shouldn’t be ignored.

Just one look at Thielen’s current contract and it’s not hard to understand why there’s a chance of him not being on the Vikings roster after this season. The veteran receiver has a cap hit of $13.5 million in 2021, but Minnesota can create $8.1 million in cap space with a release or a trade before June 1.

This would be a decision that would have to be made pretty quickly, however, since $9.095 million of Thielen’s base salary becomes fully guaranteed on March 15, 2021.

As stated earlier, this would likely be a last-resort decision for the Vikings to make. But not a lot of people thought Minnesota would trade Stefon Diggs this year either and look how that turned out.