It’s probably safe to say that former Carolina Panthers wideout Adam Thielen is pretty excited to be back in his old stomping grounds.
The 35-year-old receiver got his wish on Wednesday, when the Panthers traded him to the Minnesota Vikings. Thielen, a Detroit Lakes, Minn. native and Minnesota State University product, spent the first nine seasons of his NFL career in his home state—where he departed in 2023 as a two-time Pro Bowler and the Vikings’ fourth all-time leading receiver.
And according to NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero, Thielen agreed to quite the pay cut in order to make it all work . . .
The #Vikings and WR Adam Thielen have agreed to terms on a revised contract, reducing his salary by $2 million and removing $4M in incentives, per sources.
This wasn’t about money — Thielen wanted to come home, and volunteered to help the team’s salary cap to make it happen. pic.twitter.com/RHok55X89R
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 30, 2025
Thielen spoke to Minnesota reporters on Thursday about his return, one he said he didn’t think was possible.
“I thought the next time I would be talkin’ to you guys is when I was signing a one-day contract and retiring,” Thielen stated. “So this is pretty surreal. And again, I’m gonna take advantage of every second that I’m back in this building, and I’ve tried to do that from a little bit of a different perspective.”
Before shipping him back to Minnesota, the Panthers increased Thielen’s pay on the third and final year of his contract. The reworked deal gave the veteran, who led the team in receiving in both of the last two seasons, a $1.5 million raise for 2025.
But that bump, obviously, fell through. Instead, Carolina helped Thielen’s move come to fruition by packaging him with a conditional 2026 seventh-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick in exchange for a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 fourth-round pick.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Former Panthers WR Adam Thielen takes pay cut after trade to Vikings