The Minnesota Vikings abruptly released homegrown star Adam Thielen on Monday after making him a healthy scratch for their Week 13 gameday roster.
The move comes after the Vikings effectively traded a fourth-round pick to the Carolina Panthers to land Thielen as a short-term replacement for Jordan Addison, who served a three-game suspension to start the season.
Read more: Justin Jefferson’s Rare Behavior After Vikings Loss Raises Concerns
Thielen’s involvement in the offense after Addison’s return diminished throughout the season, leading to his request to be released and play for a new team, the Vikings revealed in a statement.
Shortly after the news broke of his release, Thielen issued a statement on social media with a career update.
Loading twitter content…
From Thielen:
This is tremendously difficult for me to write and certainly not how any of us imagined this to go.
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
Read more: Vikings Announce Potential QB Move After JJ McCarthy News
Thielen closes the season with the Vikings with eight catches for 69 yards. He is fifth all-time in franchise history with 6,571 yards receiving, fourth in career receptions with 542 catches and third with 55 receiving touchdowns.
For more on the Vikings and NFL, head to Newsweek Sports.