{"id":243624,"date":"2025-08-24T11:19:04","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T15:19:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=243624"},"modified":"2025-08-24T11:19:04","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T15:19:04","slug":"report-vikings-setting-the-stage-for-possible-saints-panthers-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/08\/24\/report-vikings-setting-the-stage-for-possible-saints-panthers-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Vikings &#8220;Setting the Stage&#8221; For Possible Saints, Panthers Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Minnesota <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/08\/24\/vikings-raiders-sam-howell-trade-aidan-o-connell-injury\/\" target=\"_self\">Vikings agreed to trade Sam Howell<\/a> to the Philadelphia Eagles, and one report suggests the team will likely use the extra draft capital to go after a wide receiver. While Justin Jefferson is incredible, the rest of the depth chart could use some work. Jordan Addison is serving a three-game suspension to start the season, and Jalen Nailor is battling through a hand injury. The Vikings need <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/03\/11\/the-j-j-mccarthy-era-begins-in-minnesota\/\" target=\"_self\">first-round pick J.J. McCarthy<\/a> to live up to his potential, and surrounding him with talented wide receivers is the best way to increase his odds of panning out.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_243625\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-243625\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-243625\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/08\/Vikings-Panthers-Adam-Thielen-Trade-1024x681.jpg\" alt=\"Vikings Panthers Adam Thielen Trade\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/08\/Vikings-Panthers-Adam-Thielen-Trade-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/08\/Vikings-Panthers-Adam-Thielen-Trade-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/08\/Vikings-Panthers-Adam-Thielen-Trade-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/08\/Vikings-Panthers-Adam-Thielen-Trade-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/08\/Vikings-Panthers-Adam-Thielen-Trade.jpg 1126w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-243625\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aug 8, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers wide receiver Adam Thielen (19) goes in motion against the Cleveland Browns during the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Vikings?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Vikings<\/a> have added draft picks and shed salary with recent trades of Harrison Phillips and Sam Howell, setting the stage for a receiver deal. <\/p>\n<p>Yes, Adam Thielen is in the mix there. But the VIkings have several lines out on the position league-wide.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JFowlerESPN\/status\/1959625656033030358?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 24, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Vikings &#8220;Setting the Stage&#8221; For Potential Wide Receiver Trade<\/h2>\n<p>It should come as no surprise that Adam Thielen is the top trade target for the Minnesota Vikings. The former undrafted free agent first made a name for himself with the Vikings and is exactly the type of player this team needs. While he&#8217;s set to play in his age-35 season and has lost a step from his peak days, he&#8217;s still a reliable possession receiver who should thrive in an offense like Minnesota&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p>With Justin Jefferson and tight end T.J. Hockenson serving as the focal points of the passing attack, Thielen can step in and be a reliable depth option, which is ideal for his current skill level. Once Addison and Nailor return to the field, Thielen can help form one of the deepest groups of pass-catchers in the league. This team went 14-3 with Sam Darnold under center, so they should have their eyes on a Super Bowl if McCarthy lives up to his potential.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the Carolina Panthers do not seem willing to trade Adam Thielen to the Vikings. While they have some impressive young talent in <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/05\/14\/tetairoa-mcmillan-panthers-rookie-wide-receiver-dynasty-outlook\/\" target=\"_self\">first-round pick Tetariora McMillan<\/a> and second-year players Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker, they do not have another proven veteran on the roster. Thielen is still a good player and can provide quarterback Bryce Young with a reliable set of hands while also mentoring the younger receivers. Unless the Vikings overpay, Thielen probably won&#8217;t go anywhere.<\/p>\n<h3>Plan B<\/h3>\n<p>Assuming Adam Thielen is off the table, the Minnesota Vikings could pivot and trade for another wide receiver. While players like Kendrick Bourne are likely available, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nfl\/news\/5-potential-wr-trade-targets-for-injury-riddled-vikings-a-familiar-face-2-former-second-rounders-and-more\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports<\/a> believes the team could go after Donovan Peoples-Jones.<\/p>\n<p>Peoples-Jones is certainly not the most exciting name in the league, but Benjamin notes he could be a cost-effective addition who could be an adequate short-term fix while Addison and Nailor are sidelined.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was the Cleveland Browns&#8217; vice president of football operations when the wideout entered the NFL as a sixth-round pick out of Michigan,&#8221; Benjamin writes. &#8220;While he&#8217;s held very limited roles the last two seasons, Peoples-Jones had a solid showing as a full-timer in 2022, when he posted a career-high 61 catches for 839 yards.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Maybe Peoples-Jones makes his way to the Vikings, but Minnesota shouldn&#8217;t trade anything more than a conditional pick for his services. After all, Benjamin needed to go back three years to find a productive season, which is an eternity in the NFL.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo: Jim Dedmon &#8211; Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Minnesota Vikings agreed to trade Sam Howell to the Philadelphia Eagles, but that may not be their only move of the day<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":243626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_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":[36,30,26,28],"tags":[1460,7214,7753,7661,7659,8558],"class_list":["post-243624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-panthers","category-vikings","category-saints","tag-adam-thielen","tag-donovan-peoples-jones","tag-minnesota-vikings-news","tag-panthers-featured","tag-saints-featured","tag-sam-howell"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243624","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=243624"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":243627,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243624\/revisions\/243627"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}