Carolina Panthers wide receiver Adam Thielen got the fan base of his former team buzzing on Wednesday when he shared a clip on his personal Instagram account of him catching passes from Minnesota Vikings rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
Despite the fact that he's still a member of the Panthers, Thielen has clearly been spending some time this summer in his home state of Minnesota, and while he's in town, he figured he might as well get a workout in with the potential new Vikings face of the franchise.
Could Carolina Panthers WR Adam Thielen and Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy be future teammates?
Of course, after Thielen put out this clip, it got the gears turning inside the heads of Minnesota fans. We're all aware that the former Vikings receiver is still under contract with Carolina, but is there any chance of him ever returning to Minnesota to team up with McCarthy in the near future?
With the way Thielen's current contract is set up, re-joining the Vikings at some point before or during the 2024 season doesn't seem likely.
Trading the veteran receiver is the only way for the Panthers to part with him this year without being left with a dead cap hit of more than $8 million, and with Minnesota only having three picks in the 2025 NFL Draft so far, they don't have much to offer right now in order to acquire their former pass-catcher.
If Carolina is interested in moving on from Thielen before his contract is supposed to expire in 2026, a departure during the 2025 offseason is definitely more believable. A trade or release of the wide receiver before June 1st, 2025, would result in the Panthers freeing up a little more than $3.4 million.
By that time, however, who knows what the Vikings will be looking to do at the wide receiver position. Bringing Thielen back would make for a fun story, but at this point, it seems more likely that his time in purple and gold has already come to an end.