A disappointing season for the Minnesota Vikings reached a low point in Week 13 with a 26-0 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. A bit of a headline was made before the game, when veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen was a healthy scratch.
Being a healthy scratch is a bad sign for a veteran player like Thielen. On Monday the Vikings announced his release, at his request, via a statement from general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
"Last week, Adam's representation approached the team and asked if we would be willing to release Adam, expressing his desire to play a bigger role in the remaining weeks of what he has indicated will be his final NFL season. Following discussions through the weekend and out of respect for Adam, we have agreed to give him the opportunity to pursue more playing time elsewhere. Adam is one of the all-time great Vikings, and we wish him and his family continued success."
Thielen issued a statement of his own on Twitter/X.
"This is tremendously difficult for me to write and certainly not how any of us imagined this to go," he said. "As a Minnesota native, putting on this uniform over the years and representing this community both on and off the field has always meant that much more to me. This team is in my bones, it's in my heart and it's part of my DNA. I will ALWAYS be a Minnesota Viking."
"Since this past spring, I knew this was going to be my last season playing in the National Football League. Given that, the Vikings allowed me the opportunity to go compete elsewhere for the last few weeks of my career. Minnesota will always be our home and we are incredibly grateful to the Wilf family, Kwesi, KO, Rob and everyone in the Vikings organization for bringing us back in August. This organization means the world to us from the top down and this locker room is filled with true professionals. With gratitude and love and I'll be back to retire!"
Adam Thielen's final chapter as a Viking just did not work out
Thielen of course spent the first nine years of his career with the Vikings (2014-2022), before being released and spending the 2023 and 2024 seasons with the Carolina Panthers. When the Panthers were clearly phasing him out in favor of younger receivers during training camp last summer, the idea of the Vikings bringing him back home surfaced easily. That he had worked out with J.J. McCarthy during the offseason bolstered the fit.
The Vikings eventually got a deal done with the Panthers, parting with a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 fourth-round pick for Thielen, a conditional 2026 seventh-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick.
The Vikings needed some reinforcement at wide receiver when Jordan Addison's three-game suspension to start the season became official. They gave up the equivalent of a fourth-round pick to add Thielen.
Driven by Addison's absence, Thielen had snap rates of 57.1, 80.9 and 75 percent respectively in the first three games this season. But the production was not there, with a total of two catches for 26 yards in that span. In line with Addison being available, the 35-year old played a total of 70 offensive snaps over the final 11 games he played for the Vikings this season.
All told Thielen had eight receptions for 69 yards on 18 targets, along with three drops, during his now-abbreviated return to the Vikings.
A productive run late last season with the Panthers made it seem like Thielen had a good bit left in the tank heading into what he had teased to be (and has now confirmed will be) his final NFL season. But like a lot of seemingly good ideas for the Vikings this season, a reunion with one of the best wide receivers in franchise history did not work out at all.