It’s been a crazy week for wide receiver Adam Thielen.

Last Sunday, the Minnesota native was a healthy scratch for the Vikings, a decision made directly by head coach Kevin O’Connell.

It was an unceremonious end to a homecoming for Thielen in Minnesota. The longtime Viking had spent nine seasons with the organization during his first stint with the team, before his eventual release. He landed in Carolina, where he played two years for the Panthers before they traded the 35-year-old back to Minnesota in a pick swap deal.

The following day, the Vikings and Thielen put out statements saying they agreed to Thielen’s request to be released and be allowed to seek a bigger involvement in another offense. Thielen’s intention was to be released and hopefully sign with a playoff contender for one last Super Bowl chase before his likely retirement.

“Since this past Spring, I knew this was going to be my last season playing in the National Football League,” Thielen wrote as part of an announcement on his socials. “Given that, the Vikings allowed me the opportunity to go compete elsewhere for the last few weeks of my career.”

When he made that decision, I don’t think the Steelers is exactly what he had in mind.

On Tuesday, the Steelers swooped in and picked him up off waivers. It was one of a trio of moves the team made during the afternoon. Cornerback Darius Slay was cut, and Asante Samuel Jr. was signed and elevated to his place on the active roster.

Neither one of those should come as much of a surprise. Slay, the soon-to-be 35-year-old Super Bowl champ the Steelers gave $10 million to this past spring struggled to establish himself in Pittsburgh’s secondary and was a healthy scratch last week. Samuel, meanwhile, is now back to full health and impressed the coaching staff last week.

The somewhat surprising one was Thielen. With an aging roster already, the Steelers took a flyer on another older player who doesn’t expect to be around for very much longer.

But for the Steelers, this is truly a “why not?” move. What do the Steelers really have to lose by claiming Thielen?

If there’s one thing Thielen for sure has an advantage in, it’s veteran experience.

Lost in how bad this wide receiver room for the Steelers has been this year is how young they are. Aside from almost 28-year-old DK Metcalf, who is in his seventh NFL season, this is an incredibly young and inexperienced group.

Calvin Austin, 26, is in his third season in the NFL, but never has he been counted on for as big as a role as the Steelers tasked him with this year. Penciled in as the WR2, Austin hasn’t produced. He’s on pace for a nearly 75-yard regression from his 2024 totals in the passing game.

Roman Wilson, 24, is essentially in his redshirt rookie year. The team’s third-round pick in 2024 was severely limited by injury, and eventually was a healthy scratch. He played five total snaps last season. Though he’s been the victim of some overthrown balls, Wilson has a measly 166 yards on 12 catches.

Ben Skowronkek and Scotty Miller have past experience as a sizable part of NFL offenses, but both receivers have been deployed primarily as special teammers for years now. Miller can’t even get a helmet half the time.

Soon-to-be 24-year-old rookie Ke’Shawn Williams, the only other wide receiver to dress for the team this season, has also been used primary in special teams. The bulk of his action has come as a kick and punt returner. Last week in Buffalo saw him set a career-high five offensive snaps. He has nine on the year.

It stands to reason that the lack of experience behind Metcalf is part of the reason why the wide receiver corps has a whole has not worked out.

Thielen, if he actually plays, does help in that regard. Does he help in any other? Well, that’s a little harder to say.

Though he was not a big yardage guy during the first few weeks of Minnesota’s season, he was a big part of the Vikings offense. He was on the field for over half of the offensive snaps in their first three games, including 38 snaps (80.9%) against Atlanta and 45 (75%) against Cincinnati.

But his involvement fell considerably as the season went on. Against the Steelers in Ireland in Week 4, Thielen played just 12 offensive snaps for the Vikings, and he never played more than 14 in a game after that. His snap counts were in the single digits in his final three games.

Regarded as a crafty route runner, he could bring those skills to a Steelers team that does not have a lot of those. He’s only two years removed from a 1,014-receiving yards campaign, and when he was deployed last season in Carolina, he had 615. I think a lot of Steelers fans would take that right now.

This season has been a completely different story. Thielen has a grand total of 69 receiving yards so far this season through 11 games. I make a lot of typos, this isn’t one of them.

Now, if there’s a saving grace, it’s that the Steelers do have a better quarterback situation. Aaron Rodgers, who turned 42 on the day Thielen was acquired, is a better options than anyone the Vikings currently have.

JJ McCarthy, their struggling first-rounder from a season ago, is currently out with a concussion. Carson Wentz, their backup, is done for the year. These injuries led to undrafted free agent Max Brosmer starting for Minnesota last week.

Rodgers, at this stage, is not great. But there’s surely a better chance that Thielen can get the ball from the future Hall of Famer than from Brosmer, or maybe even McCarthy right now.

Of course, this is all assuming Thielen ever actually suits up for the Steelers. He isn’t the first wide receiver the Steelers have tried to pick up for free and use as patchwork in their passing game.

Weeks ago, the Steelers signed free agent Marquez Valdes-Scantling to the practice squad. The two-time Super Bowl champ was reportedly deciding between Pittsburgh and San Francisco during the offseason, ultimately picking the 49ers. However, after his release out west, he circled back and inked a deal in Pittsburgh.

We haven’t heard from him since. He’s been sitting on the practice squad for a month, yet to take a snap in black and yellow. Thielen, having been a waiver claim, already has a leg up on Valdes-Scantling. But, from a production standpoint, these two options are wildly similar.

Thielen is on pace for 106.6 yards this season in Minnesota. Valdes-Scantling was on pace for 136 in San Francisco. Do these two have different skill sets? Yes, and Valdes-Scantling is a few years younger. But those are not desirable stat lines.

Valdes-Scantling might also serve as a precursor for Thielen’s tenure here. If he can’t get on the field despite the Steelers sporting one of the worst wide receiver units in the league, how much better of a chance does late-stage Thielen really stand?

There’s a lot of unknowns right now, but at this point, why not take the shot? More options, even if they aren’t the most appealing, can’t be a bad thing. If the Steelers get lucky, Thielen can get acclimated into a poor offense quickly and maybe provide a spark.

If he doesn’t, he won’t have been the only one not to make an impact here.