Before signing a three-year, $25 million contract with the Carolina Panthers, wide receiver Adam Thielen drew interest from at least two other teams — the Denver Broncos and Dallas Cowboys.
“I think there was the Broncos, Cowboys,” Thielen said during an interview on The Pat McAfee Show on Monday. “I had conversations with those teams and a few others. And, again, the Panthers just felt like the best fit and it all kinda just worked it.”
George Paton was serving as the Minnesota Vikings’ assistant general manager when they signed Thielen as an undrafted free agent in 2013. The receiver went on to play nine seasons in Minnesota, totaling 6,682 receiving yards and 55 touchdowns.
The Cowboys ended up completing a trade with the Houston Texans for receiver Brandin Cooks. The Broncos’ WR situation remains uncertain.
In addition to pursuing Thielen in free agency, Denver also tried to sign Allen Lazard before he joined the New York Jets. The team’s interest in WRs seemingly suggests that they are (or were) interested in moving at least one of their own WRs in a trade.
Recent reports have suggested that the Broncos are likely to keep both Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton, but that could change if a team made the perfect offer. The Theilen and Lazard interest confirms that Denver was interested in making big changes to the WR room. Whether that will still happen remains to be seen.
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