The Minnesota Vikings made no effort to hide how they were in the market for a wide receiver, and the headlines were dominated by a back-and-forth with the Carolina Panthers about bringing Adam Thielen back home.
For a time on Tuesday, the prospect of a trade to bring Thielen back to the Vikings seemed to be becoming unlikely. Talks were likely ongoing, but talk of the Panthers wanting a third-round pick provided a bridge too far.
Then on Wednesday, the Vikings and Panthers agreed to a trade to send Thielen back to Minnesota. The Vikings are sending a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 fourth-round pick to Carolina, and they will also get a conditional 2026 seventh-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick from the Panthers.
So the outcome Vikings' fans, and some analysts, have been clamoring for for weeks when it came to the prospect of adding a wide receiver, has happened. It's fair to assume general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah had multiple irons in the trade fire, though, even if the details never come to light.
Minnesota Vikings had a contingency plan if Adam Thielen trade fell through
Until they made a move, a number of wide receivers who were available or potentially available were easy to tie to the Vikings in some capacity. All of that speculation is done now, most likely, with the Thielen trade. But a name that was unsurprisingly mentioned in that speculation was released by his team a bit after Minnesota's trade with Carolina on Wednesday.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the New England Patriots released wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, with a subsequent note that the Vikings had interest in trading for him before acquiring Thielen.
Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald further reported that the Patriots released Bourne, upon his request, after a trade to send him to the Vikings was not finalized.
The Vikings got a close look at Bourne when the Patriots were in town for joint practices before the second preseason game for each team. When New England kept eight wide receivers on their initial 53-man roster, a move to part with someone was inevitable, and Bourne was easy to put atop that list.
Maybe it was used as a bit of leverage, or maybe it was a simple contingency plan in case talks with the Panthers to acquire Thielen went irretrievably awry. But the Vikings apparently made notable progress on a deal to acquire Bourne, before (presumably) pulling the plug when the trade for Thielen came together.