Like veteran receiver Brandin Cooks, veteran receiver Adam Thielen asked to be released by a struggling team. Like Cooks, Thielen was.
Unlike Cooks, Thielen didn’t make it through waivers.
Via NFL Media, the Steelers claimed the balance of Thielen’s contract.
They’ll pick up his prorated and essentially guaranteed base salary of $3 million. With five weeks left in the regular season, the Steelers will owe him $833,333.
Thielen previously reduced his salary by $2 million and gave up $4 million in incentives when he was traded to the Vikings in late August. That gesture made his contract more attractive on waivers.
He wanted opportunities for more playing time than the 185 snaps he received in 11 games this season. And while he may get that in Pittsburgh, Thielen may not be playing in the postseason in what he has said will be his final year.
It’s possible Thielen was hoping to slip through waivers in the hopes of signing as a free agent with a Super Bowl contender like the Patriots or the Broncos.
Instead, Thielen has jumped from a sunken ship to a sinking one. The Steelers are 2-5 after starting 4-1 — and they’re reeling from an embarrassing 26-7 home loss to the Bills.
It won’t be easy to make an impact quickly. Thielen will need to pick up the offense. He’ll need to win the trust of Aaron Rodgers. And the Steelers are only five days away from a critical showdown with the 6-6 Ravens for first place in the AFC North.
He joins a depth chart that includes DK Metcalf, Calvin Austin III, Roman Wilson, Ben Skowronek, Ke’Shawn Williams, and Scotty Miller. (Marquez Valdes-Scantling is on the practice squad.)
We’ll see how it goes. We’ll see which of the current receivers is released. However, it’s safe to say Thielen will be showing up for film sessions and running the right routes.
Vikings Clips
With J.J. McCarthy set to return this week from a concussion, the Vikings cut quarterback Desmond Ridder from their practice squad, the team announced.
Ridder also was with the Vikings early in the season when McCarthy was sidelined with an ankle injury. The Vikings waived him in early October.
Max Brosmer started in McCarthy’s place on Sunday.
The Falcons selected Ridder in the third round of the 2022 draft. He has started 18 of 25 games played, completing 63.6 percent of his passes for 4,002 yards with 16 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
Ridder has also spent time with the Cardinals (2024), Raiders (2024) and Bengals (2025) before joining Minnesota.
The NFL will head into the final five weeks of the regular season with the fewest number of teams still in playoff contention since at least the 2002 season.
The Giants, who fell to 2-11 on Monday night, became the first team eliminated from postseason consideration in Week 12 and four teams joined them in Week 13. The 1-11 Titans, 2-10 Raiders, 2-10 Saints, and 3-9 Cardinals are also set to start making their plans for the 2026 season.
Per NBC Sports research, that is the most teams out at this point in the season since the divisional realignment that took place ahead of the 2002 season.
While all of those teams are out of the running, no teams have clinched a playoff spot at this point.
A handful of other teams should be joining that quintet soon. The 3-9 Jets, 3-9 Browns, 3-9 Commanders, 4-8 Falcons, and 4-8 Vikings are going to a lot of things to break in their favor to keep the playoff fires burning much longer.
The Commanders and Vikings play this week and the loser will have no remaining path to the playoffs. The Commanders will also be out if they win and the Eagles win while the Jets, Browns and Falcons are all out with a loss this week.
There is still a chance quarterback Jayden Daniels returns in Week 14 when the Commanders play the Vikings. But he has some steps to get through to do so.
During his Monday press conference, head coach Dan Quinn said Daniels has not yet been cleared for contact and the team may take the decision on whether or not he plays all the way to Friday.
“It’s a little different at the position because it’s not the normal contact like a linebacker or running back. It’s more of the functional contact,” Quinn said. “Think of stiff arm on a bag, think of diving on the ground — so there’s more functional movements that he’ll go through. He did some of that today, and he’ll do more during the week. So, the practice portion, for him throwing, ripped a bunch today and threw it hard. It’s the functional movement that he’ll continue to work with. Some of that actually will be in individual and working to the side. We’ll continue to work that part, and that’s the step we need to see from a functional evaluation, functional contact. It’s not traditional in the sense of taking a hit.”
Daniels has been sidelined by his dislocated left elbow since suffering it during the Week 9 loss to the Seahawks. Daniels was officially a limited participant on each of Washington’s three injury reports last week.
Marcus Mariota has started the last three games for the Commanders and would be in line to do the same against Minnesota if Daniels is unavailable. He’s started six games total this season.
Daniels has completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 1,184 yards with eight touchdowns and two interceptions in his six starts so far in 2025. Mariota has completed 63.2 percent of his throws for 1,359 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions.
Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy should clear the concussion protocol this week and start on Sunday against the Commanders.
Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell said today that McCarthy is symptom free and just needs to have a full practice to have fulfilled all the conditions of clearing the concussion protocol. O’Connell expects that full practice to come on Wednesday.
“Expecting, barring any unforeseen changes to where he’s at today, and hopefully having that Wednesday will allow him to have a normal, full week and likely be able to go in as our starter on Sunday,” O’Connell said.
McCarthy has started six games this season and missed six more with injuries. Backup quarterback Carson Wentz was mostly able to hold things together in McCarthy’s absence, but with Wentz and McCarthy both out yesterday, undrafted rookie third-stringer Max Brosmer was a disaster in a 26-0 loss to the Seahawks.
After missing his entire rookie season last year, McCarthy has not played well this year. The Vikings badly want to see McCarthy show some signs of progress in the final five games of the season, and they’re going to have a big decision to make this offseason as they determine the future of their franchise at the quarterback position.
Wide receiver Adam Thielen’s second tour of duty with the Vikings has come to an end.
The team announced that they waived Thielen on Monday. Both Thielen and the team announced that the move came at Thielen’s request because he would like to pursue opportunities for more playing time with another team in what he says will be his final NFL season.
Thielen appeared in the first 11 games of the season before being inactive for Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks. He only played 44 offensive snaps in his last six appearances for the Vikings.
The Vikings signed Thielen as an undrafted free agent and he spent nine years with the team before moving on to the Panthers. He was traded back to Minnesota this summer and had eight catches for 69 yards in his return to the team.
The Vikings entered their Week 13 matchup with the Seahawks with the hope that rookie quarterback Max Brosmer might be able to give them a spark offensively.
Instead, the club reached a new low under head coach Kevin O’Connell, with the organization getting shut out for the first time since 2007.
“We just did not have the type of an offensive performance that is ever going to be acceptable with the Minnesota Vikings organization,” O’Connell said in his postgame press conference. “That obviously starts with me. It’s not about any one particular player or position. It’s a collective group thing right now where we are just not good enough to overcome some of the things that we’re doing, overcoming some injuries up front and overcoming some of the things that are happening.”
The Seahawks’ defense has been one of the league’s best throughout 2025 and the Vikings were missing two of their starting offensive lineman to begin the day, with center Ryan Kelly getting ruled out with a hip injury during the contest. Those elements didn’t help Brosmer or the offense as a whole, as the club finished with just 162 total yards and 11 first downs.
“We just never could really make that one or two or three in a row kind of play,” O’Connell said. “When we did move it, we weren’t able to sustain it long enough to get in the end zone.”
Between the struggles at the quarterback position and the Vikings’ 4-8 record, O’Connell said, “There’s no question we’re pressing” on offense.
“Guys want to make those plays, guys want to make the throws,” O’Connell said. “I know how hard our guys have prepared, are trying. We just can’t quite seem to catch the rhythm of positive plays with all 11 guys executing right now. That’s guys maybe trying to do too much.
“Maybe we’ve got to try to limit what we’re asking of the group as a whole, especially with some different guys stepping into the lineup, just to try to get some more consistency at the very least to try to give ourselves a better chance.”
The Vikings have lost four in a row and six of their last seven since the Week 6 bye. The next chance to right the ship will come against the Commanders on Sunday.
Backed by a strong defensive performance, the Seahawks had little trouble with the Vikings on Sunday, defeating them 26-0.
Seattle’s defense held Minnesota to just 162 yards and 11 total first downs, with Minnesota finishing 2-of-10 on third down. The club also averaged just 3.2 yards per play.
It was the first time the Vikings had been shut out since 2007. Minnesota has not scored in six quarters, the longest stretch for the club since 1991.
The Seahawks picked off undrafted rookie quarterback Max Brosmer — who was making his first start in place of an injured J.J. McCarthy — four times. Linebacker Ernest Jones had the first touchdown of the game, returning an ill-advised, fourth-down pass by Brosmer 85 yards for a touchdown on a key sequence late in the second quarter. Brosmer finished the contest 19-of-30 for 126 yards with four picks.
Jason Myers hit all four of his field goals, with attempts coming from 33, 56, 54, and 40 yards.
Offensively, Sam Darnold didn’t have the best game against his former team, but he also didn’t need to do much. While he was pressured throughout, Darnold finished 14-of-26 for 128 yards with one lost fumble.
The Vikings’ defense held Seattle to just 219 yards, averaging 3.5 yards per play. Seattle had 17 first downs and was 6-of-15 on third down. Jaxon Smith-Njigba was held to his lowest yardage total of the season by far, catching just two passes for 23 yards.
On the other side, Justin Jefferson had just two catches for 4 yards.
Already playing without left tackle Christian Darrisaw and guard Donovan Jackson, the Vikings also lost center Ryan Kelly to a hip injury.
Now at 9-3, the Seahawks are even in record with the Rams, but are considered in second place by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker. Seattle will be on the road in Week 14 to face the Falcons.
At 4-8, the Vikings will try to get a win next Sunday at home against the Commanders.
The injury situation for the Vikings is getting worse.
Center Ryan Kelly has been ruled out of Sunday’s matchup with the Seahawks with a hip injury.
Michael Jurgens has come in to replace him.
Kelly has already missed substantial time this season due to concussions.
The Vikings also started the day without left tackle Christian Darrisaw and guard Donovan Jackson, who were inactive due to injury.
Minnesota running back Aaron Jones also suffered a shoulder injury during the contest.
It’s been an ugly offensive performance for Minnesota, with undrafted rookie quarterback Max Brosmer making his first start. He’s thrown three interceptions, as Seattle leads 26-0 in the fourth quarter.
It’s been a rough day for the Vikings offensively and it may get worse.
Minnesota running back Aaron Jones is questionable to return with a shoulder injury.
Jones went into the sideline medical tent after he fumbled on a short reception midway through the third quarter. FOX sideline reporter Pam Oliver noted that Jones effectively had to be cajoled into the tent for examination. Minnesota announced Jones was questionable a bit later.
The Seahawks lead the Vikings 19-0 late in the third quarter. Making his first start, Minnesota quarterback Max Brosmer has had a rough go of it, going 14-of-22 for 88 yards with two interceptions so far on Sunday.
