Adam Thielen will visit the Panthers

Posted by Mike Florio on March 14, 2023, 7:53 PM EDT
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Cut last week after spending his entire career in Minnesota, receiver Adam Thielen is looking for a new team. His search begins in Carolina.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Thielen is expected to visit the Panthers on Wednesday.

With DJ Moore due to be traded to the Bears, the Panthers will have needs at the receiver position. And Thielen has proven that he can contribute at a high level.

Last year, Thielen caught 70 passes for 716 yards and six touchdowns. He has a pair of 1,000-yard seasons. In 2017, he gained 1,276 yards on 91 catches. The next year, he had a career high 113 catches for 1,373 yards. He made it to the Pro Bowl both years.

No other team has been publicly linked to Thielen, who became a free agent the moment he was released.

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29 responses to “Adam Thielen will visit the Panthers”

  3. “So, who is throwing me the ball here?”

    “Wellllll……you know why don’t we answer youquestion with another question: do you like run blocking?”

  4. Depending on his price, Thielen seems like a no-brainer for the Chiefs or Bills to pursue. Or Ravens, if their QB chooses to play for $32 million instead of $44 million.

  5. I would suggest he might be a good fit for New England, but the word on the street is that the Patriots are considering an offer for Lamar Jackson. If that’s the case they wouldn’t need to be concerned about a wide receiver since Lamar doesn’t throw all that much. According to the local sports radio shows Belichick wants Jones on the first bus outta town, and he’s willing to make a play for Lamar, but hasn’t convinced Robert Kraft it’s the best move just yet. That would explain why they let Myers go though as they’ll need to free up some cash if they do in fact try and land Lamar. Jakobi was also Macs go to guy, so letting him go in free agency for a dollar amount they could have easily matched could also be considered a message being sent Macs way by Bill…Gonna be interesting either way

  7. Hopefully he can find a better team. But then again, if they are offering enough money, his wife may order him to sign with the Panthers.

  9. upnorthvikesfan says:
    March 14, 2023 at 8:02 pm
    He would get lots of targets, but no ring. Just come home to Minny!

    He would have just as much of a chance at a ring as he would in Minnesota, granted that’s not much.

  10. word on the street is that the Patriots are considering an offer for Lamar Jackson.
    ——————
    I think there’s merit to such a notion. I also believe Belichick does not like Mac. The problem with your idea is that Mac is not an ideal backup for Lamar. Mac has value and that value diminished with all these teams filling holes at QB. If they were going to snag Lamar, they should have traded Mac already.

  11. Theilen is definitely a modern-day legend (and a fellow Minnesota State alum). Total homegrown product, and arguably the most popular member of the team.

    That said, Theilen getting $19M out of the Vikings for the 2023 season was going to be like squeezing water out of a brick. I’m assuming the Vikings probably offered him around $9M, which was near the dead cap figure. I thought he was crazy not to take it. Still, I’m kind of curious to see what other teams will offer him. Could get interesting.

  13. I mean, being a #1 WR with a rookie QB on a garbage team might make him reconsider any offer the Vikes may have laid out for him right?

  15. I SUPPOSE he could go back to Minny if he does not get the $$ he is looking for.
    But kind of hard to go back to a team and take like 30% of what you WERE being paid.

    I’m not a fan of the modern NFL in terms of the outrageous money players make and the Salary cap design.

    Free agency and the Salary cap were not a good combo.

    I miss the days when players were drafted, developed and pretty much always stayed with their teams until they retired.

    Teams can get better quickly now, but they can also get LOUSY quicker.

    The Legacy NFL favored teams who knew how to scout, develop and coach players.

  16. Thielen used to be productive and could help a young QB the Panthers draft, but he’s a receiver who will be turning 33 before the season starts and has 4 straight years of declining yards per catch.

  17. Why would BB not like Mac after only two seasons and a playoff game? Patricia thought he could coach offense and couldnt. So Mac gets mad, so what? Until they let him go I wont believe it. TB is still going to need a starting caliber QB soon, as are the Colts, who may try for Minshew. Of course the Ravens and Falcons still want Jackson.

  20. I doubt the Patriots want to pay two #1’s to a conference rival, then get involved in a long term contract for huge dollars that they likely can’t escape from. I have felt they might step in on the Aaron Rodgers deal because the cap hit can be spread over 4 years at 15 mil per, and the draft capital given up would be less with Rodgers being 38-39 years old. Belichick needs a proven QB for 3-4 seasons to set the regular season and all time wins records and at this point, you cannot be confident in an unproven Mac Jones. No knock on Mac. They wasted 2022 and that hurt him. The on field antic also don’t help Mac though he has been a consummate team player otherwise. But if BB thought Rodgers could still play for a few seasons, it would make sense. Brady parachuted into a stacked roster. Nobody does it alone. Belichick needs a proven quality QB if he is to ever match what Brady did. It’s harder for Belichick because he has so many other responsibilities and restrictions, whereas Brady had total freedom to hand pick his situation. If I am BB, I’d find it hard not to make a run at that and lock up those records before he is 75 because tomorrow is promised to no man. It’s late in the game but it’s not impossible for them to step in and swipe Rodgers from the Jets. If Rodgers goes to the Jets, and Tua is healthy, and the Bills are the Bills, the Patriots are in a scrum just to stay out of the cellar of the AFC East. With Kraft being 82 at the start of the season, I doubt he wants to wait for a team to develop either. They are both in WIN NOW mode. The price for Lamar is too steep. The Patriots do have the most cap space available the next 2-3 seasons depending on what they do with contract in 2023. They could easily sign Rodgers and OBJ and a buddy or two for Aaron, and as was mentioned earlier, they let Jakobi go and he is Mac’s safety blanket. Jakobi is great, but he didn’t score a TD his first 2+ seasons because he can’t get open easily on a short field, and the Raiders offered him 21 mil in guarantees. It’s not the 11 mil salary at issue. It’s the guarantees. So he is gone. I am not sold on Lamar at an astronomical salary, but someone will give it to him. I am not sure it should or would be the Pat’s. Lamar was drafted 32nd by Baltimore in 2018. The Patriots had pick number 31, and they chose Sony Michel. Of course Brady was still there. They may have had interest but not enough to risk annoying Tommy. And that was their 2nd first round pick. They used #23 to draft Isaiah Wynn. Double whiff. They may have been thinking they could get him in the second round but couldn’t. They then used the pick on….Duke Dawson. GTFO Casserio.

  21. Panthers make sense. A team looking for a nice vet security blanket for a rookie QB should be willing to overpay a little. Could also see him taking less to join a contender. Shanahan could maximize what’s still there; bills and chiefs have already been mentioned. Cincy makes sense too. All depends on if Thielen sees himself as a WR3/4 who can contribute and chase a ring or a WR2 and wants $$$

  22. fightingirishman says:
    March 14, 2023 at 8:41 pm

    I’m assuming the Vikings probably offered him around $9M, which was near the dead cap figure. I thought he was crazy not to take it.

    ——————————————————————————————

    So Thielen is crazy not to take an offer than you just invented?

    If you think the Vikings offered the dead cap number because that would have been the salary cap either way, that isn’t how the salary cap works. The cap hit is due to previous payments (usually in the form of a bonus) that gets allocated to future years. If Thielen had $9 million paid previously that hasn’t counted against a cap year yet, that money will be counted eventually regardless if Thielen plays for them or not. If they paid him an additional $9 million to play for them this season, that’s an additional cap hit. They could add future years to the contract to spread that out, but it’s still going to count.

  23. When does a player not immediately become a free agent when released? Is there some sort of grace period that nobody knows about that allows a team to re-neg?

  24. We will miss Adam Thielen but remember this-When the Vikings played the Giants in the playoff game Justin Jefferson was triple teamed and Adam Thielen had one on one coverage the whole game. For the game Adam Thielen caught several passes for 46 yards, he should’ve had a field day but he didn’t. The whole year was like that with Adam Thielen-that’s why he’s gone…..

  26. bozobiden says:
    March 14, 2023 at 8:06 pm
    I would suggest he might be a good fit for New England, but the word on the street is that the Patriots are considering an offer for Lamar Jackson. If that’s the case they wouldn’t need to be concerned about a wide receiver since Lamar doesn’t throw all that much.
    __________________

    Lamar has attempted over 27 passes per game. He has a career 63.7 completion percentage with a 7.4 yard average per completion.

  27. He hasn’t dropped off any, the Vikings just hard other targets. Some team’s fanbase will very happy to get a Non-Diva WR on their team.

  29. Will the Vikes be able to field a team next yr? Looks like they’re in line for about 10 compensatory pix.

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