2:02 pm | April 12, 2019 | Go to Source | Author:
MINNEAPOLIS – Two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Adam Thielen has agreed to a four-year contract extension with the Minnesota Vikings, the team announced on Friday afternoon
The details of Thielen’s new deal were revealed in an Instagram post by Team IFA, the agency that represents the 28-year-old receiver. Thielen is set to make $64 million with the extension on a deal worth up to $73 million with incentives. NFL Network is reporting that Thielen received $35 million in guaranteed money.
The Vikings’ front office followed suit with the precedent of rewarding players with lucrative extensions years before their contracts are up. Thielen, who had two years remaining on the four-year extension he signed in March 2017, had outplayed his current contract which was set to pay him around $8 million in 2019, and will now be making an average of $16 million per year.
Thielen is one of eight players under contract in Minnesota through the 2022 season, a list which also includes Anthony Barr, Stefon Diggs, Everson Griffen, Danielle Hunter, Eric Kendricks, Linval Joseph and Xavier Rhodes.
Thielen’s rise from an undrafted college free agent who joined the Vikings after a rookie tryout in May 2013 has been well documented. The Pro Bowler is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons, marking a career-high 1,373 yards (fourth most in franchise history) and 113 receptions (third most in franchise history) and nine receiving touchdowns in 2018.
Last season, the former Division II product became the first player in NFL history to record eight consecutive games with 100-plus receiving yards to start a season.
According to the NFLPA’s public salary cap report, the Vikings have just over $2 million in cap space. Thielen’s $8.1 million cap hit in 2019 should drop considerably to fit under the cap and allow the Vikings to free up the space needed to sign their draft class later this month.
The extension will make Thielen one of the NFL’s highest paid receivers, tied with Kansas City Chiefs wide out Sammy Watkins as the sixth highest paid at his position based on the amount he’s set to receive on average each year.
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