The Minnesota Vikings got some cap relief this season by restructuring Adam Thielen’s contract but it could make things difficult down the road.
Entering the 2022 offseason, the salary cap was extremely tight for the Minnesota Vikings. The team restructured some players while releasing others and did what they could to create space to sign a few free agents and have money available for their 2022 NFL Draft class.
One of the moves the Vikings made was a contract restructure for wide receiver Adam Thielen on March 18. The details of that restructure were kept quiet until today…and it doesn’t look fantastic when it comes to flexibility for the franchise.
The positive is that Thielen’s new deal gave Minnesota $5.16M worth of salary cap relief for 2022. The space created was great for this upcoming season, but there are some reasons not to be super excited about the deal.
Why the Minnesota Vikings could regret the Adam Thielen restructure
Adam Thielen will be turning 32 this season and will essentially lock him into staying with the Minnesota Vikings through the 2024 season. Although he has been a touchdown machine for the team the last few years, he hasn’t played a full season since 2018. Over the last three seasons, he has missed 11 games.
Thielen’s extension was also a raise. His 2023 cap hit increased by $2.01M to $19.967M. 2024 sees his cap hit increase by $3.15M to $21.655M. Plus, a void year goes on the deal giving the wide receiver another $2.25M.
The deal does give the Vikings an out in 2024 if they swallow approximately $7M to release him, but would still be on the hook for the void year money.
At the moment, the Minnesota Vikings are tied to Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson for the next couple of seasons. If they both can stay healthy, they are one of the best duos in the league. However, Jefferson will be in line for a massive extension soon and depth at the position outside them is questionable.
The Minnesota Vikings are committed to Adam Thielen for the next couple of seasons and have invested heavily in him to make the offense one of the most explosive in the league. If he can continue to play at a high level and stay healthy, this is a decent deal that pushes the cap into future seasons. However, it’s always risky when a team has a player with a back-ended contract that includes a void year.