PRIOR LAKE  — The Minnesota Vikings provided Adam Thielen his overcoming-the-odds opportunity in the NFL, as an undrafted wide receiver from an NCAA Division II school.

As grateful and loyal as Thielen is to his home-state team, though, he’s not about to simply accept a discount for the new contract he’s in line for. After a breakout 2016 season, Thielen will become a restricted free agent on Thursday when the market opens.

“This is my team. I love this team. I’ve put in a lot of time and effort to help this team win games, and I’d love to be here,” Thielen said. “But at the same time, I want to be respected and for what I’ve done. I feel like I’ve proven that I can be a starter in this league, and I want to be respected in that way.”

The word respect was mentioned several times by Thielen in a recent interview with reporters at an event for the team’s winter fan fest. There is plenty of respect within the organization for Thielen, an affable, diligent player who went largely unnoticed by colleges at Detroit Lakes High School about 200 miles northwest of Minneapolis and had to sell himself to Minnesota State for a scholarship.

He impressed Vikings coaches and scouts enough to land on the practice squad as a rookie in 2013, stood out on special teams the following year once he made the active roster and improved so steadily as a wide receiver that he became a full-time starter with Stefon Diggs last season. Thielen caught 69 passes for 967 yards and five touchdowns for an offense that ranked fifth-worst in the league in total yards.