When rumors started swirling about the Minnesota Vikings looking to bring back wide receiver Adam Thielen via trade, it wasn't hard to envisage what would come next. But the Carolina Panthers weren't just going to give him away just because of his close connection to the franchise.
Thielen reportedly wanted to leave, although he was coaxed away from retirement by the Panthers' progress this offseason. Had it been another team, it would have been a different story. But this is his boyhood club, where he rose from undrafted obscurity to become a two-time Pro Bowler and one of the league's most prolific route runners.