Carolina Panthers wide receiver Adam Thielen (19) walks off after practice at training camp in Charlotte on July 26, 2025.

The Minnesota Vikings traded for Carolina Panthers wide receiver Adam Thielen ahead of the 2025 NFL season to add veteran depth to their receiving corps.

The trade marked a homecoming for Thielen, who grew up in Minnesota, played college football at Minnesota State and spent the first nine seasons of his NFL career with the Vikings. Home seemed to be a recurring theme for the wideout.

"Couldn't be more excited, and there's nothing I can say to tell you how excited I am to be back home," Thielen said Thursday.

Evidently, Thielen was excited to return to the Vikings. The 35-year-old is taking a sizeable pay cut to help facilitate the move, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports.

"This wasn’t about money," Pelissero wrote in a post to X. "Thielen wanted to come home, and volunteered to help the team’s salary cap to make it happen."

Thielen was originally set to play the 2025 NFL season on a one-year, $8.5 million restructured contract he inked with the Panthers during the offseason, per Spotrac.com. The deal provided the 35-year-old an opportunity to earn an additional $4 million, which were tied to receiving yards, receptions and playoff results.

Pelissero reports Thielen agreed to reduce his salary by $2 million. He also removed the $4 million in potential incentives from his contract.

The Vikings still have just under $16.2 million in cap space thanks to Thielen's adjustments. That ranks 13th-most in the NFL, per OverTheCap.com, and positions the team with some flexibility to improve its roster during the 2025 NFL season.

And Thielen will provide the Vikings with some much-needed receiver depth as the team prepares J.J. McCarthy to be its starting quarterback. Jordan Addison is suspended for the first three games of the season while Rondale Moore is out for the season with a knee injury.

Thielen recorded 48 catches for 615 yards and five touchdowns across 10 games with the Panthers last season. He recorded 534 catches for 6,682 yards and 55 touchdowns across his nine seasons with the Vikings.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Adam Thielen takes pay cut with Vikings: 'Excited to be back home'

Reporting by Jacob Camenker, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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