CHARLOTTE — Panthers receiver Adam Thielen may have spent the offseason debating whether or not he wanted to return for another season in the NFL at 35-years old (spoiler alert, he does and will).

But defenders have spent the offseason debating how to actually guard the longtime veteran.

Philadelphia Eagles star defensive back Cooper DeJean had a stellar rookie season. He finished on the PFWA All-Rookie team for the season, after 69 total tackles (regular and post season), 10 passes defended, 0.5 sacks, a forced fumble, three fumble recoveries, and one interception, returned 38-yards for a touchdown. The latter was off of Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LIX, an early factor in Philly's rout of the defending champs.

But there's one game, one receiver, that gave DeJean the most trouble and was his "Welcome to the NFL" moment.

Adam Thielen.

When the Panthers faced the Eagles in Week 14 of the 2024 season, the Eagles pulled out the 22-16 win, but not without a dogfight on Philadelphia. One reason for that was Thielen, who finished as the game's leading receiver with nine receptions for 102 yards.

The performance put DeJean in a blender, who finished with just five tackles and no passes defended.

"Adam Thielen worked me," DeJean recently told Barstool's PMT.

"That was probably one of my tougher games, going up against him."

This is the second time DeJean has mentioned Thielen being his toughest assignment last season. At the end of the regular season, DeJean was asked about his welcome to the league moment and told Philadelphia reporters, "When I faced Adam Thielen a couple of weeks ago. He gave me some good work."

Despite missing seven games with injury, Thielen still finished the season as the Panthers leading receiver, with 48 receptions for 615 yards and five touchdowns. His decision to put off retirement and return gives the Panthers a building block, something that was important to Thielen.

"When you're part of something, I always said the reason I came to Carolina in the first place was I wanted to be part of building something. So if that wasn't being built and I didn't see that it was progressing and going in the right direction, it would have been a lot easier to be like, all right, I'm ready to move on and start the next part of my life," Thielen explained back in early February.

"But when you start to see that progression, I would hate to be part of building and then not be a part of the next step. So hopefully things keep progressing, and I can be a part of the end of the building process."

And of course, give a new rookie his own "Welcome to the NFL" moment.