Panthers WR Adam Thielen wrapped up his 11th season in the NFL this past year at the age of 35 and still averaged over 60 yards per game.
While Carolina was trending up at the end of the year, they still aren’t likely to be elite contenders in 2025, which could turn away older players like Thielen.
Despite not having the greatest Super Bowl chances, Thielen is all in on returning for another year with the Panthers.
“I had said after the season, like I just need two weeks to really think about it,” Thielen said, via Darin Gantt of the team’s website. “And then once I make that decision I’m like, I’m going to do one more year. Then that’s my mindset, and here we go. I didn’t want to be wishy-washy, like maybe, maybe not.”
“So whether it was a yes or a no, I just wanted to know so I can attack my offseason.”
Thielen cited QB Bryce Young as a reason he’s continuing to play, as he doesn’t want to miss out on the young signal caller’s improvements.
“I would say I would say that was 95 percent of the reason for wanting to play again. Because when you’re part of something, I always said the reason I came to Carolina in the first place was I wanted to be part of building something. So if that wasn’t being built and I didn’t see that it was progressing and going in the right direction, it would have been a lot easier to be like, all right, I’m ready to move on and start the next part of my life.”
“But when you start to see that progression, I would hate to be part of building and then not be a part of the next step. So hopefully things keep progressing, and I can be a part of the end of the building process.”
Thielen, 34, wound up signing on with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota State-Mankato back in 2013. He spent his rookie season on the Vikings’ practice squad before returning to the team on a future/reserve contract the following year.
Minnesota brought Thielen back for the 2015 season on a one-year exclusive rights deal before signing him to a four-year, $19.240 million contract that included $11 million guaranteed in 2017.
Thielen was set to make base salaries of $5.85 million and $5.35 million before agreeing to a four-year extension in 2019 worth as much as $73 million. The Vikings opted to release back in 2023.
From there, Thielen signed a three-year, $25 million contract with Carolina.
In 2024, Thielen appeared in 10 games for the Panthers and caught 48 passes for 615 yards receiving and five touchdowns.