{"id":181626,"date":"2024-07-15T14:00:14","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T18:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=181626"},"modified":"2024-07-15T06:10:06","modified_gmt":"2024-07-15T10:10:06","slug":"adam-thielen-panthers-chiefs-free-agent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/07\/15\/adam-thielen-panthers-chiefs-free-agent\/","title":{"rendered":"Panthers Stole Top Free Agent From Kansas City Chiefs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen was one of the few bright spots on the 2023 Carolina Panthers. Following a long and successful stint with the Minnesota Vikings, the former undrafted free agent signed a three-year, $25 million deal with Carolina to be Bryce Young&#8217;s top option. With <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/news\/bears-trading-no-1-overall-pick-to-panthers-for-wr-d-j-moore-four-draft-picks\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">D.J. Moore on the Chicago Bears<\/a>, Thielen stepped up as the only reliable weapon in the passing game. Starting and appearing in all 17 games, Thielen finished his age-33 season with 103 receptions for 1,014 yards and four touchdowns on 137 targets.<\/p>\n<p>The Panthers finished the 2023 season with the worst record in football, but they might not have won a game if it weren&#8217;t for Adam Thielen. He was easily the best move of the team&#8217;s offseason, but a recent interview indicates the wide receiver did not want to sign with the Panthers. While at a golf tournament, Thielen revealed he wanted to sign with the Kansas City Chiefs.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Panthers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Panthers<\/a> WR Adam Thielen tells us he wanted to go to Kansas City last offseason but that the <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Chiefs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Chiefs<\/a> didn&#39;t want him <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Jm2J5weCBC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Jm2J5weCBC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Starcade Media (@StarcadeMediaKC) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StarcadeMediaKC\/status\/1811641421163905383?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 12, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Panthers Adam Thielen Wanted to Sign With Kansas City Chiefs<\/h2>\n<p>This report shouldn&#8217;t come as too much of a surprise to anyone. Adam Thielen was a godsend for the Carolina Panthers, but every single receiver in the league would rather play with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2023\/02\/08\/three-keys-to-a-kansas-city-chiefs-super-bowl-win\/\" target=\"_self\">Patrick Mahomes and a Super Bowl contender<\/a> than an untested rookie on a rebuilding roster. The Chiefs didn&#8217;t want him and, for what it&#8217;s worth, Thielen made them look foolish for that decision. Some of Thielen&#8217;s production last year came from being the only reliable target in Carolina, so maybe he wouldn&#8217;t have hit 1,000 yards with the Chiefs. However, last year proved he can still play and should remain a key piece in the Panthers offense in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The Chiefs got the last laugh by winning the Super Bowl, but Thielen could&#8217;ve gone a long way in addressing their woeful receiver depth. Travis Kelce started to slow down before finding the Fountain of Youth in the playoffs, and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/05\/11\/rashee-rice-suspension-gun-punch-car\/\" target=\"_self\">second-round rookie Rashee Rice<\/a> was the only reliable wide receiver on the team. Kansas City addressed their receiver depth with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2020\/07\/28\/kansas-city-chiefs-contract-extension-candidates\/\" target=\"_self\">free agent signing Marquise Brown<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/06\/04\/xavier-worthy-dynasty-outlook-2024-fantasy-football\/\" target=\"_self\">first-round pick Xavier Worthy<\/a>, but Thielen could&#8217;ve ensured that Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore never saw the field.<\/p>\n<h3>Thielen In 2024<\/h3>\n<p>Now entering his age-34 season, Adam Thielen might not see the same workload for the Panthers in 2024. While he will remain a key part of the passing attack, Carolina brought in some weapons to make life easier for Bryce Young. Former Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson is one of the <a  href=\"https:\/\/receptionperception.com\/diontae-johnson-2023-player-profile\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">game&#8217;s more underrated route runners<\/a> and will likely lead the team in targets, while <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/01\/16\/2024-nfl-draft-profile-xavier-legette\/\" target=\"_self\">first-round pick Xavier Legette<\/a> is a high-risk, high-reward prospect with a superstar ceiling.<\/p>\n<p>However, even if Legette hits the ground running, Adam Thielen should remain a reliable target in the Panthers offense. Terrace Marshall will never justify his draft selection, while Jonathan Mingo had a disastrous rookie season. In a perfect world, Thielen will be the third option behind a fully realized Legette and a reliable chain mover in Diontae Johnson. In a more realistic world, Thielen will probably be the second option as Legette adjusts to the NFL game.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo: Morgan Tencza &#8211; USA Today Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Carolina Panthers signed Adam Thielen last offseason, but a recent interview reveals he wanted to sign with the Chiefs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":181627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30,16],"tags":[1460,7811,7661],"class_list":["post-181626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-panthers","category-chiefs","tag-adam-thielen","tag-chiefs-featured","tag-panthers-featured"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}