trade with the Panthers<\/a> that reunited him with the only other team he’s played for. \u201cBut at the time, I had so much respect for him and how he approaches the game, even in the summer months when you don\u2019t really have to do those things.\u201d<\/p>\nThielen, who was acquired with a conditional 2026 seventh-round draft pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick from the Panthers for a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 fourth-round pick, has the third-most catches in Vikings history behind Cris Carter and Randy Moss, two Pro Football Hall of Fame members he grew up avidly rooting for.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI just didn\u2019t think that this was even a possibility. I thought the next time that I would be talking to you guys would be when I was signing a one-day contract and retiring, so this is pretty surreal,\u201d Thielen said to reporters on the indoor practice field. \u201cI’m going to take advantage of every second I\u2019m going to be back in this building.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thielen was careful to clarify he wasn’t looking to leave the Panthers, who went 7-27 over his two seasons. He raved about the quality of the people he worked with, from quarterback Bryce Young to the kitchen staff at the practice facility. After being released by the Vikings for salary cap relief following the 2022 season, Thielen took his wife and three young children on a temporary relocation to North Carolina they won’t soon forget.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe grew a lot closer as a family, having to kind of do this little adventure on our own,” Thielen said. “Our whole time in Minnesota, we had family, friends, loved ones right here.\u201d<\/p>\n
As he bro-hugged his way through the building, Thielen clearly had a couple of favorites in mind to find in coach Kevin O’Connell and wide receiver Justin Jefferson. He compared the reunion with Jefferson to coming back from college and meeting up with a childhood friend.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt’s like you never left, like it was yesterday. And that\u2019s how I felt with Justin. It was like we\u2019ve never been on a different team,\u201d Thielen said. “I love that guy to death and have so much respect for him on and off the field, and we have such a great relationship. It’s good to be back.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the regular season begins on Sept. 8 at Chicago, the Vikings won’t have Jordan Addison because of a three-game suspension. They aren’t sure yet whether Jalen Nailor will be healthy enough to play after injuring his hand in a joint practice with the New England Patriots. Tai Felton is a rookie. Thielen could well join Jefferson in the starting lineup, sliding back into O’Connell’s system and catching passes from a kid he’s already worked with.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to make sure this emotion doesn\u2019t just fade away,\u201d Thielen said. “It\u2019s going to be hopefully something that lasts my entire time here, just how appreciative I am to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP NFL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/NFL<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EAGAN, Minn. (AP) \u2014 Adam Thielen naturally kept Minnesota as his family’s offseason home after he joined the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2073],"tags":[4128,1476,260,692,3254,7,1519,3973,8265,2780,233,259,2529,249,6,1221,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-325456","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-adam-thielen","9":"tag-bryce-young","10":"tag-carolina-panthers","11":"tag-chicago","12":"tag-family","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-j-j-mccarthy","15":"tag-jalen-nailor","16":"tag-jordan-addison","17":"tag-justin-jefferson","18":"tag-minnesota","19":"tag-minnesota-vikings","20":"tag-minnesotavikings","21":"tag-new-england-patriots","22":"tag-nfl","23":"tag-tai-felton","24":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115109619950786601","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}