Even before Jordan Addison was arrested in Los Angeles the other day for suspicion of driving under the influence, the Minnesota Vikings were thin at wide receiver. Now, it’s a decent bet the Vikings would love to find a way to bring hometown favorite Adam Thielen back from Carolina.

It’s not impossible, but it would be difficult. That’s because Thielen’s current team, the Panthers, last year made quarterback Bryce Young from Alabama the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. Young, however, had a disappointing rookie season, and Carolina desperately needs him to improve. For that to happen, the Panthers need Thielen in a supporting role.

Thielen is in the second season of a $25 million, three-year contract, but only $5.5 million is guaranteed for 2024.

Thelen, who turns 34 next month, is still a worthy possession receiver but doesn’t possess the speed he once had. If the Vikings were able to get him back, it would be as a third receiver in the slot, because he no longer is fast enough to play outside.

>> Addison’s arrest in Los Angeles was in a Rolls-Royce. Prices for a new Rolls-Royce generally start at about $350,000. A year ago, when Addison was cited in St. Paul for driving 140 mph in the middle of the night, it was in a Lamborghini Urus. Those autos generally price at about $240,000.

Addison, 22, the Vikings’ first-round pick in the 2023 draft, is in the second year of a guaranteed $13.7 million, four-year contract.

>> It’s likely that Addison’s latest transgression will result in a three-game suspension without pay. That would cost him, based on the way his contract is structured, about $177,000, half the price of a Rolls-Royce.

Addison has proven unreliable, and it wouldn’t be surprising if this is his last season in Minnesota.

>> The way it looks now, barring injuries, it’s a 7-10 record in 2024 for the Vikings, but with hope to improve in 2025.

All you need to know: At the most important position in football, the Green Bay Packers have a QB (Jordan Love) making $55 million a year. The Vikings have a QB (Sam Darnold) making $10 million.

>> Christian Darrisaw’s guaranteed $67 million, four-year signing with the Vikings last week was unusual in that the team could have waited a year to make the deal, the way it waited before signing Justin Jefferson to a guaranteed $110 million, four-year contract last spring.

It’s clear, though, that Darrisaw, 25, compromised for less money and security. Darrisaw hasn’t gotten through a full season without missing some games due to injuries. The signing was a good deal for the left tackle and a good deal for the Vikings. The NFL’s salary cap continues to rapidly increase as the league’s revenue continues to explode.

>> No doubt the coming season will be safety Harrison Smith’s last of 13 prolific seasons in Minnesota. There also is reason to believe this season will be the last for Thielen after 11 distinguished years.

>> The San Francisco Giants’ trade with Seattle last week for pitcher Mike Baumann means Mahtomedi High School now has two graduates pitching for the same major league team. The other is Sean Hjelle.

>> The Pohlad family that owns the Twins spared no expense in hosting a high-class private party for Joe Mauer, family and friends in Cooperstown, N.Y., the day before his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. At the party, the Twins included partial ex-Twins David Ortiz and Jim Thome in a Hall of Fame team picture even though the pair were inducted as Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians players, respectively.

>> One crowd estimate at Mauer’s induction was that 40 percent of the 25,000 fans were there for Mauer, 35 percent for Todd Helton, 20 percent for Adrian Beltre and 5 percent for Jim Leyland.

Meanwhile, hotels in Utica, N.Y., a 45-minute drive from Cooperstown, already are booked a year out for the anticipated induction of former Mariner Ichiro Suzuki.

>> Texas Christian-bound Sam Udovich, 17, of Cretin-Derham Hall shot 4-under-par 66 at notable Brook Hollow Country Club in Dallas, last week to become the third-youngest golfer to qualify for the US. Amateur tournament Aug. 12-18 at Hazeltine National. The youngest is 14-year-old Jaedoon Song from Los Angeles. The 5-foot-3 Song began private lessons at age 2½ .

>> Among interesting sights on the practice putting green at the TPC in Blaine at the 3M Open was Kevin Dougherty putting with his cell phone balanced horizontally on the top of his head. If his head moves, the phone falls. “Usually, though, I can catch it,” he said.

>> Chris Olean, the former Milwaukee Brewers minor league pitcher who last spring coached St. Thomas to the Summit League baseball championship, saw the Twins’ recent eighth-round draft pick, Jakob Hall, up close the past two seasons.

Hall is a right-handed pitcher for Oral Roberts. He’ll receive a bonus in the $200,000 range if he signs with the Twins, which is expected.

“He’s really good, more of a pitcher than velocity guy,” Olean said. “He locates three to four pitches really well. He got deep in games almost every time against us. If he picks up just a little bit of velocity, I can see him being useful in a professional organization. He definitely was one of the better guys we saw.”

>> That was Bethel grad Jeff Nelson, 59, a 26-year major league umpire and crew chief who worked four World Series, working last Wednesday’s Twins-Philadelphia Phillies game as an major league umpire observer. He’ll also work St. Paul Saints games, and a seminar for prospective umpires Aug. 24 at CHS Field.

>> Former DeLaSalle-Gopher-Buckeye Jamison Battle the other day signed a free agent contract with Toronto, then averaged 7.4 points in 14 minutes and five games for the Raptors in the Las Vegas summer league.

>> Ex-Gopher Cam Christie, 18, the 6-foot-6 shooting guard, averaged 11.4 points and shot 40.5 percent from three-point range for the Los Angeles Clippers’ summer league team in Las Vegas.

Both Christie and brother Max, 21, of the Los Angeles Lakers will wear jersey No. 12 this season.

>> In two games for the Timberwolves’ summer team, former Gopher-Iowa State guard Gabe Kalscheur averaged five points.

>> North Oaks native Frankie Capin, via the Korn Ferry Tour, is on his way to earning PGA Tour full privileges for next season. Among perks for earning a PGA Tour playing card, by way of their Tour’s policy board, is a guarantee of $500,000 for player expenses, provided the player plays in a minimum 15 events, plus $5,000 for a missed cut to assist with travel and caddies expenses.

>> Luke Clanton, who was runner-up amateur to Neal Shipley in the Masters in April and would have won $804,000 in two PGA Tour events had he relinquished his amateur status and turned pro, is still scheduled to return to Florida State as a junior this fall.

Hazeltine National the other day received a call that Clanton, 20, has submitted paperwork to play at the U.S. Amateur at the Chaska course. Should Clanton actually return to Florida State, he would be expected to receive a colossal name, image and likeness (NIL) deal.

Clanton missed the cut in the 3M Open.

>> Superb play-by-play voice Mike Grimm returns to Gophers football broadcasts with Darrell Thompson this season, then with Al Nolan for Gophers basketball on KFAN-AM.

>> Greg Gagne honored his father, late wrestling icon Verne, and his family in a moving acceptance speech last week at his induction into the Tragos/Thesz National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Waterloo, Iowa. Gagne joins his wrestling partner, Jim Brunzell of the High-Flyers, who was inducted in 2013.

>> Condolences to the family of Harvey Davis, the extremely popular Johnson High School hockey assistant during the Governors’ 1960s glory days. Harvey died last week at age 91.