Some players just feel like they will be with an NFL team for their entire career. The Minnesota Vikings have had several of those players on their roster in the past but it hasn’t worked out for all of them to stay exclusive to the purple and gold
Seeing wide receiver Adam Thielen in a jersey that doesn’t say Vikings on it feels weird. However, he just finished his second season with the Carolina Panthers and the 34-year-old pass catcher sounds like he wants to return for at least one more year.
Thielen has one more year left on his three-year contract worth $25 million he signed with Carolina. He is still playing at a high level. A return for the 2025 NFL season seems logical. It is starting to look like the Minnesota native will be staying with the Panthers this offseason.
The door on Adam Thielen returning to the Minnesota Vikings in 2025 might have just been shut
ESPN staff writer Jeremy Fowler recently shared an article that included a nugget about the former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver. In the piece, Fowler shared that the Carolina Panthers are not expected to release Thielen this offseason.
Thielen is set to have a salary cap hit of a little over $8 million for the 2025 season. If he was released, the Panthers would incur about $5 million in dead cap space and would be without the veteran receiver to help their young quarterback develop.
Although he only played in 10 games for the Panthers in 2025, Adam Thielen still led Carolina in receiving yards (615) and receiving touchdowns (5). Getting rid of a familiar weapon for quarterback Bryce Young would be a mistake that could hurt is development.
There are many Vikings fans who would welcome Adam Thielen back to Minnesota if the opportunity was available. His rise to prominence with the purple and gold is a fantastic story that helped many fans gravitate toward him.
A fam favorite who helps the community, it would be a challenge to find people to say bad things about Thielen. It isn’t out of the question that one day he could return to Minnesota to be enshrined in the team’s Ring of Honor.
However, something like that will need to wait since Adam Thielen is expected to return to the Carolina Panthers in 2025. Maybe one day he will be back in front of the cheering fans of the Minnesota Vikings.