Thielen Family Goes Crazy After Hearing About Trade to Vikings

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Adam Thielen and sons - Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Well, it actually happened. Wednesday morning, the Minnesota Vikings agreed to terms on a trade with the Carolina Panthers that will put former Mankato State superstar Adam Thielen back in Vikings purple and gold. Getting the deal done wasn’t easy or cheap on Minnesota’s end, though.

The Panthers had no urgency to move Bryce Young’s most reliable pass catching target, unless Minnesota GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was going to make them an offer they couldn’t refuse. Eventually, that came in the form a 2027 4th and 2026 5th rounder, in exchange for a 35-year-old Thielen and the Panthers’ 2027 5th rounder.

Shortly after news spread that the Minnesota Vikings and Carolina Panthers were deep in trade talks, over Adam Thielen, reports started coming out that he and his family would welcome the move.

In fact, his wife has been posting on social media about a possible move back home for days, posts that began almost immediately after the initial reports of negotiations surfaced.

Adam Thielen and family celebrate trade back to Minnesota Vikings

Adam’s wife, Caitlin Thielen, isn’t from Minnesota, but she is local to the area (kind of). Born in Appleton, WI, Mrs. Thielen relocated to the east Twin Cities suburbs during her childhood as a Green Bay Packers fan.

Caitlyn attended Woodbury high school, before graduating and enrolling at Mankato State (now University of Minnesota State – Mankato), where she met her future husband and father of three children, while also changing her NFL allegiances.

Thus, it’s not surprising that the entire Thielen family was ecstatic when they got the phone call notifying them that Adam had been traded back to the Minnesota Vikings, where they lived and he played for the first 9 seasons of his NFL career. Caitlin posted the Thielen’s celebration video to her Instagram account.

It probably hurt Kwesi to give up a 4th round pick, in order to bring Thielen home. Nonetheless, you have to believe their celebration upon completing the deal looked similar to Adam, Caitlin and their family.

Thielen fits what Vikings need perfectly

The Minnesota Vikings were desperate to add a legitimate WR3 to their roster who will be able to seamlessly integrate into Kevin O’Connell’s offense as a WR2, while Jordan Addison is serving a three game suspension to start the regular season.

For what the Vikings needed, there was no better fit league-wide than Thielen. At 33 and 34 years old, the Detroit Lakes kid caught 151 receptions (on 199 targets) for 1,629 yards and 9 touchdowns in two seasons as a Panther.

Related: 4 Most Surprising Players to be Cut From Vikings Roster

But before he left town, Adam was able to learn KOC’s offense when the two were together in Minnesota during the 2022 season, Thielen’s last in purple…. until now.

And the timing couldn’t be better, as the hometown wide receiver is exactly what the doctor ordered for a Vikings offense that now looks absolutely stacked when Addison returns in week four.

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