Ex-Mav Adam Thielen, Vikings agree to 4-year, $64M extension
The standout NFL wide receiver is now signed with the team until 2024
Kevin Korbel
Sports Editor
MSU alumni Adam Thielen continues to make a name for himself in the NFL, as the wide receiver inked a 4-year, $64 million extension Friday, April 12.
Thielen’s agency, The Institute for Athletes, posted the terms on Instagram, including the potential through incentives to earn as much as $73 million over the life of the contract covering the 2021-24 seasons.
Thielen, a native of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, played in a total of 46 games during the course of his Minnesota State career, which spanned 2009-2012 (he redshirted in 2008).
Signed as an undrafted free agent by the Vikings following the conclusion of his college career in Mankato, Thielen spent the 2013 campaign as a member of Minnesota’s practice squad, before eventually getting to where he’s at today as a one-two punch alongside Vikings wide receiver, Stefon Diggs.
A first team All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division selection and a Daktronics Super Region No. 3 second team pick as a senior in 2012, Thielen completed his four seasons with the Mavericks ranking second all-time in receptions (198), third in reception yards (2,802), third in receiving touchdowns (20), third in punt return yards (582), third in punt returns (57), sixth in all-purpose yards (3,503) and eighth in receptions per game (4.3). He had 74 receptions as a senior, which ties for first on MSU’s single-season list, and his 1,176 reception yards that year ranks fourth on the school’s single-season list.
A team captain in his last year with the program, Thielen helped lead the Mavericks to 13-1 record and a place in the 2012 NCAA Division II national semi-finals his senior year.
Thielen is now the sixth highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL in terms of average earnings per season ($16 million per season), which is just behind Odell Beckham Jr, Antonio Brown, Mike Evans, DeAndre Hopkins and Brandin Cooks, according to figures compiled by the sports salaries database Spotrac.com.
Thielen has two years left on the deal he signed in 2017, which easily made the Minnesota native one of the best bargains in the NFL after averaging 102 catches and 1,325 yards over the past two seasons. He was picked for the Pro Bowl both years, further enhancing one of the league’s best underdog stories.
Now with big contracts for Thielen, Diggs, quarterback Kirk Cousins, defensive end Danielle Hunter, and linebackers Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr all squared away, the team looks to have a good core group of playmakers for the forseeable future.
Header photo courtesy of the Associated Press.