PITTSBURGH -- For his birthday, the Pittsburgh Steelers got Aaron Rodgers a new receiver.
The team was awarded former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen off waivers Tuesday. The addition came amid a flurry of moves that also saw the Steelers waive veteran cornerback Darius Slay. Additionally, the Steelers are signing cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. to the active roster from the practice squad, a source told ESPN.
Thielen was waived by the Vikings a day after he was a healthy scratch in the team's 26-0 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said Thielen's agent asked for a 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 receiver corps returned to full strength following Jordan Addison's reinstatement, Thielen's role dwindled. He played just three snaps in his final game against the Packers in Week 12.
"Since this past Spring, I knew this was going to be my last season playing in the National Football League," Thielen wrote in a post on social media. "Given that, the Vikings allowed me the opportunity to go compete elsewhere for the last 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 is 24th in the league, averaging just 187.8 yards per game. DK Metcalf, acquired by the Steelers in a blockbuster trade this spring, leads the team with 605 receiving yards and five touchdown receptions but is averaging a career-low 50.4 yards per game. The receiver depth behind Metcalf is lacking, too, after another Steelers trade sent George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys in the offseason. Calvin Austin III has the next most yards among Steelers wide receivers with 278, and he's averaging just 27.8 yards per game.
After completing under 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, particularly on the deep balls.
"When there's film sessions, everybody shows up," Rodgers said of how to solve the issues. "And when I check to a route, do the right route. Like, Jonnu [Smith] and I just weren't on the same page. I checked to the in-breaker, and he ran the out-breaker. You know, Jonnu is a true professional, so I'm sure he's sick about that."
Though Thielen and Rodgers spent most of their careers on opposite sides of the Vikings-Packers rivalry and have never played together, the two developed a friendship through golf and the American Century Classic. Rodgers and Thielen are the oldest active quarterback and receiver in the NFL, respectively.
Thielen was previously acquired by Minnesota earlier this year for 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 concludes his Minnesota career as No. 3 in career touchdown catches (55), fourth in receptions (542) and fifth in receiving yards (6,751).
In 11 games this season, Thielen caught eight passes for 69 yards. He had a 1,000-yard season as recently as 2023, when he had 1,014 yards on 103 receptions for the Panthers.
And while the Steelers added Thielen on Tuesday, they also parted with a veteran on the opposite side of the ball in Slay. Slay and the Steelers mutually agreed to part ways, agents Drew Rosenhaus and Robert Bailey told ESPN's Adam Schefter. Slay is interested in continuing to play and will consider signing with other teams, his agents told Schefter.
Slay, 34, was a healthy scratch for Sunday's game against the Bills as the Steelers opted instead to elevate Samuel to the active roster for the game.
At his weekly news conference Tuesday, coach Mike Tomlin said making Slay inactive was more about seeing what they had in Samuel, whom the team signed to the practice squad Nov. 11, than it was about Slay's recent performance.
Fresh off winning the 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 with a concussion sustained in a 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 undrafted free agent James Pierre moved into the starting role opposite Joey Porter Jr.
Slay played just 20 snaps (30.8%) against the Bears, his fewest of the season other than the injury-shortened Chargers game. Slay finished his brief Steelers tenure with 3 passes defensed, 1 fumble recovery, 36 total tackles and 1 tackle for loss. With Slay inactive against the Bills, the Steelers had to turn to Samuel when Pierre exited with a concussion. Samuel, who went 14 months between NFL action as he recovered from spinal fusion surgery, wound up playing 28 defensive snaps (37.8%) and recorded three total tackles.
With Slay's departure and Pierre still in the concussion protocol, Samuel could be in line for even more work against the Ravens on Sunday.
"We liked some of the things that we saw," Tomlin said of Samuel. "And we'll make decisions about how we divide the labor up a little later in the week."