Last week, Fox’s First Things First’s Nick Wright suggested the New England Patriots chase the Minnesota Vikings’ Adam Thielen to fill an obvious hole at the wide receiver position. Admittedly, Wright said he was creating the link, but he went on to explain why it would make sense for the Patriots.
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Adam Thielen is a “Patriot-Esque” Option
According to Wright, Thielen is the kind of player who would seemingly fit in with the Patriots. Wright said:
I’m gonna throw another name at you who probably seems more Patriot-esque as far as their history with skill-position guys. I wonder if Adam Thielen’s available. That team (Minnesota) stinks. They need draft picks. He’s on a very reasonable contract.
Here is a look at the segment from the program.
Thielen Has Made a Living Being a Dependable Option in the Passing Game
Thielen got a huge raise in 2020. His salary jumped from an $805,000 base to $4.8 million. That said, there is an out for 2021, which could mean a team could be free of him after this season. That’s likely an attractive option for the Patriots because they don’t like to commit to most players over the long haul.
The 30-year-old Thielen is very productive when healthy. After missing six games in 2019, he’s come back strong.
So far this season, he has 32 receptions for 415 yards and seven touchdowns. As good as Thielen has been this year and in 2017 and 2018 when he eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark, it hasn’t resulted in many wins for Minnesota. The Vikings are a woeful 1-5 to start the season. Because of that, there is a strong chance the team could be looking to trade away its assets before the deadline on Week 3.
Thielen is one of the team’s best players, but he is 30, and based on how far away from contention they appear to be, it would seem he could be a prime candidate to be headed to a contender.
If the Patriots were able to swing such a deal, pencil him in as the automatic No. 1 target for Cam Newton in the passing game.
Not Everyone is a Believer in the Validity of This Deal
While Patriots fans and potentially Thielen might rejoice at the thought of this kind of deal taking place, there are some pundits who scoff at the thought. Mitchell Hansen of Fan Sided calls it unrealistic:
Hansen said:
There is no question that Minnesota is struggling to start the year, currently sitting at 1-5 overall and looking to be a team looking to sell prior to the trade deadline to focus more on the future and creating salary cap space. But unless the Vikings are looking to completely clean house and fully shed personnel on the team to start fresh, they won’t trade away one if not the top player on the offensive side of the ball.
As consistent as Thielen has been for the Vikings, it’s hard to imagine the team making him an untouchable, especially with the emergence of Justin Jefferson. Maybe he doesn’t land with the Patriots, but a Thielen is anything but unrealistic.
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Patriots Linked to Elite 2x Pro-Bowler and ‘Patriot-Esque’ Star