NFL Free Agency: Adam Thielen set to sign new contract with Carolina Panthers

After being released by the Minnesota Vikings on March 10, wide receiver Adam Thielen has found a new home. According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the Carolina Panthers are finalizing a deal that would send Theilen to Charlotte for three seasons.

This will be Thielen’s tenth season in the NFL, going from an undrafted player that made an impact on special teams to a Pro Bowler and Second-team All-Pro selection in 2017.

He’s spent all nine of his previous seasons with the Vikings, recording 534 catches for 6,682 yards and 55 touchdown receptions in the purple and gold. The addition of star wide receiver Justin Jefferson led to a drop in Thielen’s overall production, but he still managed to end last season with 70 receptions, 716 yards, and six touchdown catches.

There’s no question the 32-year-old will add a veteran presence to the eighth-youngest roster in the NFL from a season ago, and will join free agent additions like Miles Sanders and Hayden Hurst on the Panthers’ offense.

More on the 2023 NFL offseason, free agency

The NFL 2023 calendar year is set to begin at 4 p.m. ET on March 15 when contracts running through 2022 will officially run out, making those players free agents. Prior to the beginning of free agency, teams will have a chance to designate one franchise or transition tag player, starting on Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. ET and ending on March 7. Beginning March 13 through March 15 teams will be allowed a legal negotiation with players who are set to become unrestricted free agents.

In addition to NFL free agency, the new year also marks the beginning of all trades being made official by the league office. April 21 marks the deadline to sign restricted free agents to offer sheets while April 26 marks the deadline for teams to match restricted free agent offers sheets. 722 players are slated to become free agents in 2023.

More on restricted, exclusive rights free agents

Players with only three years of accredited NFL experience become restricted free agents. Their original team will have the option to apply first-round, second-round, original-round, and right-of-fight-of-first-refusal tenders on players at escalating price tags. The higher the round, the more expensive the tender amount; however, if a separate team does offer a contract and the original team does not match that round pick will be conveyed from the new team to the original team. Right of first refusal only gives a team the option to match or not. If they don’t match, they get nothing in return. An original-round tender would send a draft pick from whatever round the player was drafted back to the original team if they chose not to match. The original team will have five days to match once a player signs an offer sheet from a new team.