There’s only one logical conclusion after Adam Thielen’s new contract extension was announced: magic is real, and Rob Brzezinski is a wizard.
If you’ve never heard of the man behind the curtain, that’s another story for another day. What’s important is that Mr. Brzezinski has helped the Minnesota Vikings lock up another important player to their success.
Much has already been written and talked about Thielen’s rags to riches and deservedly so. Thielen went from playing at Minnesota State to the Minnesota Vikings; from making $420,000 his rookie season to making tens of millions of dollars in a few years.
You read that right – Thielen’s contract extension doesn’t kick in until the 2021 season. This is important for many reasons.
1. Take it away, Mr. Hasan:
Put differently, out of WR contracts league-wide, and taking into account current and future contracts (i.e. Thielen’s contract extension), Thielen will be accounting for a smaller percentage of his team’s cap than Odell Beckham Jr., DeAndre Hopkins, Brandin Cooks, T.Y. Hilton, Antonio Brown, Davante Adams, and Jarvis Landry. (His teammate and University of Maryland alum – fear the Turtle! – Stefon Diggs will be taking up an even smaller percentage of the Vikings’ cap.)
The Vikings may not know who’s throwing the ball to Diggs and Thielen in 2021, but it provides something most NFL franchises are striving for:
2. Stability
Quarterback is probably the first position that comes to mind when you think of a stable franchise. It’s why the Patriots have been successful for so long. They’ve had Tom Brady. It’s why the Packers are always in the postseason hunt. They have Aaron Rodgers. Kirk Cousins brings stability to the position in the short term, but a lot can change in an instant (see Bridgewater, Teddy).
The next likely position that comes to mind when you think of a stable franchise isn’t just one position, it’s a unit – the offensive line. Unfortunately, the Vikings are still figuring that one out, but a quarterback can have the best offensive line in the league, but if the quarterback has “no one to throw to” it’s kind of a moot point.
Enter Thielen.
Since entering the league, Thielen’s total yards, receptions, touchdowns, yards per game, and targets have increased. That’s certainly coincided with the emergence of Diggs as a WR1, but it helps when he’s making catches like this:
And this:
The Vikings are in good hands.
3. Familiarity
As already mentioned, Kirk Cousins may or may not be the quarterback when the 2021 season rolls around. That’s down the road.
It’s 2019.
Despite not earning a postseason berth, Kirk Cousins still threw for over 4,000 yards for the fourth consecutive season (good for 10th in the league, one yard behind… Eli Manning?).
Cousins threw just 10 interceptions despite having the fourth-most pass attempts league-wide. This allowed Thielen to benefit to the tune of 113 receptions, 1,373 yards, and nine touchdowns – or about 32% of Cousins’ total yardage. That’s with an offensive line that gave up 40 sacks and 262 yards lost to those sacks.
Thielen’s 113 receptions were tied for fourth-most in the league with Julio Jones and just 12 off the league leader (Michael Thomas – 125). Thielen was targeted 153 times last season, so if that was the result in the first year of the Cousins-Thielen duo, imagine what a whole offseason of learning together will do.
Adam Thielen’s new deal will pay him well, but it’ll pay off well for the Vikings too.