Thielen cut after 10 years with home-state Vikings
Adam Thielen grew up in Minnesota as an avid fan of the Vikings, a sports-loving kid who desired to one day catch passes just like Cris Carter and Randy Moss.
His improbable and remarkable run with his homestate team ended with his name right behind them on the career receiving record lists. The Vikings released Thielen on Friday for salary-cap relief, nearly 10 years after he latched on with them as an undrafted underdog.
Thielen was carrying the second-largest cap hit on the club behind quarterback Kirk Cousins. The move will stick the Vikings with more than $13.5 million in dead money for 2023, but they created $6.4 million in additional space by cutting him.
Thielen has 55 touchdowns in 135 games with the Vikings, the third-most in franchise history behind Carter (110) and Moss (92). Thielen is also third in receptions behind Carter (1,004) and Moss (587).
Adam Thielen
n PATRIOTS: Devin McCourty has only known one home during his NFL career since being selected by the New England Patriots as a first-round draft pick out of Rutgers in 2010.
Three Super Bowl rings and 13 seasons later, he’s walking away from the sport as one of the Patriots’ most decorated and respected players on and off the field.
The veteran safety announced his retirement in an Instagram video Friday, calling his career “a great ride.”
“It’s always tough to kind of come to the end,” McCourty
told his twin brother, Jason, in the video. “This whole offseason has been back and forth for me mentally, probably not even sharing as much of the thoughts that I was just going between from one day to the next day. But ultimately, I think this is the best decision for me, my family, for my career.”
McCourty, 35, was selected as a second-team AllPro three times in his career (2010, 2013, 2016) and garnered two Pro Bowl selections in 2010 and 2016. He finishes with 35 career INTs, 938 tackles, three sacks, 110 pass breakups, 11 forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries.
The 35 INTs in the regular season ranked as the most among all active NFL players last season and is behind only Ty Law and Raymond Clayborn (36) for the most in Patriots history. His 42 total takeaways also are second in franchise history.
n CHIEFS: Otis Taylor, the longtime Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver who along with quarterback Len Dawson formed one of the NFL’s dynamic duos, died
Thursday after more than a decade of health problems. He was 80.
Taylor’s family, who had been caring for him as he dealt with Parkinson’s disease and dementia, confirmed that he had passed away a mere seven months after Dawson, his close friend and teammate.
Taylor spent all 10-plus years of his career in Kansas City, where he was a fourthround pick out of Prairie View A&M in the 1965 AFL draft. He went on to have two 1,000-yard seasons during an era in which the passing game was still evolving, and he finished his career with 7,306 yards and 57 touchdown catches.
Taylor is perhaps best remembered for the 46-yard touchdown pass in the 1970 Super Bowl that clinched the Chiefs’ win over the Vikings.
Taylor was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and associated dementia in 1990, and in 2012, his family filed a lawsuit against the NFL claiming it was legally responsible for health issues he experienced beginning with seizures in 1969.