An era has officially come to an end as the Vikings make Adam Thielen a free agent
It was a move that we all probably knew was coming, but this is going to be a tough one to write anyway.
The Minnesota Vikings have officially announced the release of wide receiver Adam Thielen, who leaves the purple as one of the most productive receivers in team history.
Everyone knows the Adam Thielen story, but we’ll tell it again anyway. He grew up as a Vikings fan in Detroit Lakes and, after playing his college career at Minnesota State University (on. . .say it along with me. . .a $500 scholarship), he was signed by the Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2013. After that, he worked his way up from the practice squad into being a special teams contributor. After that, he was part of some dynamic receiving duos with the Vikings, first teaming with Stefon Diggs before joining forces with Justin Jefferson following Diggs’ trade to Buffalo.
Thielen leaves the Vikings in fourth place in team history in receiving yardage (6,682 yards) and third in both receptions (534) and receiving touchdowns (55). Not bad for a young kid from north central Minnesota that got an opportunity to live his dream.
The release of Thielen will save the team about six and a half million dollars this year while forcing the team to eat a dead money hit of over $13 million. The two sides attempted to negotiate a deal that would have allowed Thielen to stay around, but could not come to an agreement prior to the start of the new league year.
We’ll have plenty more on the release of Adam Thielen over the next day or two, but for now we’ll just say that we wish Thielen the best of luck going forward. . .except, of course, for when he faces off against his former team.