PITTSBURGH — For his birthday, the Pittsburgh Steelers got new receiver Aaron Rodgers.
The team claimed former Minnesota Vikings receiver Adam Thielen off waivers on Tuesday. The addition came amid a flurry of moves that also saw the Steelers waive veteran linebacker Darius Slay. Additionally, the Steelers are signing cornerback Ashanti Samuel Jr. to the active roster from the practice squad, a source told ESPN.
Thielen was waived by the Vikings a day after becoming a healthy scratch in the team’s 26-0 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said Thielen’s agent requested his release last week as the 35-year-old receiver sought to make a greater contribution elsewhere in the final weeks of his final season before retirement. Once Minnesota’s wide receiving corps returned to full strength after Jordan Addison was reinstated, Thielen’s role diminished. He played just three snaps in his final game against the Packers in Week 12.
“Since last spring, I have known this would be my final season in the NFL,” Thielen wrote in a social media post. “Given that, the Vikings allowed me the opportunity to go compete elsewhere during the final few weeks of my career.”
Thielen now lands with a Steelers team that has struggled to generate much offense this season. With Rodgers, who turned 42 on Tuesday, at the helm, the Steelers’ passing attack ranks 24th in the league, averaging just 187.8 yards per game. DK Metcalf, who was acquired by the Steelers in a blockbuster trade this spring, leads the team with 605 yards and five receptions, but his career average is 50.4 yards per game. Receiver depth behind Metcalf is also missing, after another Steelers trade sent George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys in the offseason. Calvin Austin III has the second-most receiving yards among Steelers wide receivers with 278, and is averaging just 27.8 yards per game.
After completing less than 50% of his pass attempts in a 26-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Rodgers seemingly called out his wide receivers when asked how he could get on the same page with them, especially on deep balls.
“When there are photo shoots, everyone shows up,” Rodgers said of how he solves problems. “And when I check the road, I follow the right path. Like Juno [Smith] And I wasn’t on the same page. I checked the internal breaker, and it turned on the external breaker. “You know, Jono is a real professional, so I’m sure he’s tired of it.”
Although Thielen and Rodgers spent most of their careers on opposite sides of the Vikings-Packers rivalry and never played together, the two developed a friendship through golf and the American Century Classic. Rodgers and Thielen are the oldest active quarterbacks and receivers in the NFL, respectively.
Minnesota previously acquired Thielen earlier this year in his second stint with the franchise as the Vikings sent the Carolina Panthers a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 fourth-round pick for Thielen, a conditional 2026 seventh-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick. Thielen officially finished his Minnesota career as No. 3 in career touchdown catches (55) and fourth in career receptions (542). And fifth in receiving yards (6751).
In 11 games this season, Thielen has caught eight passes for 69 yards. He had a 1,000-yard season until 2023, when he had 1,014 receiving yards on 103 receptions for the Panthers.
While the Steelers added Thielen on Tuesday, they also parted with a veteran on the other side of the ball in Slay. Slay and the Steelers have mutually agreed to part ways, agents Drew Rosenhaus and Robert Bailey told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Schefter’s agents said Slay is interested in continuing to play and would consider signing with other teams.
Slay, 34, was a healthy scratch for Sunday’s game against the Bills as the Steelers instead opted to elevate Samuel to the active roster for the game.
In his weekly news conference Tuesday, coach Mike Tomlin said making Slay inactive was more about seeing what they have in Samuel, whom the team signed to the practice squad on Nov. 11, than Slay’s recent performance.
After winning a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles, Slay signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Steelers in free agency and started nine games in Pittsburgh this season. He missed the Week 11 game against the Cincinnati Bengals due to a concussion during the Week 10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, and when he returned for the Week 12 game against the Chicago Bears, he came off the bench as former free agent James Beare moved into the starting role in exchange for Joey Porter Jr.
Slay played just 20 snaps (30.8%) against the Bears, his fewest of the season other than the Chargers’ injury-shortened game. Slay finished his short Steelers tenure with three passes defended, one fumble recovery, 36 total tackles and one tackle for loss. With Slay inactive against the Bills, the Steelers had to turn to Samuel when Pierre went out with a concussion. Samuel, who went 14 months between NFL games while recovering from spinal fusion surgery, wound up playing 28 defensive snaps (37.8%) and recorded three total tackles.
With Slay gone and Pierre still in concussion protocol, Samuel could be in line for more action against the Ravens on Sunday.
“We liked some of the things we saw,” Tomlin said of Samuel. “We will make decisions on how to divide the work later in the week.”