There’s nothing quite clear about the Adrian Peterson situation, and the same goes for the reaction of the Minnesota Vikings, who at the moment have deactivated him. Down the road, once things become a bit more clearer, he might even be traded.
It seems like the NFL office is on hold at the moment. Roger Goodell is hiding from the media, and it might also seem like he’s holding back on making any decisions, maybe until the Ray Rice thing blows over. Meanwhile, no one is quite sure how bad of a situation Peterson is in. He’s been indicted by a jury and has turned himself in, but other than, it seemed to have sparked a huge debate about what’s considered violence and what is proper disciplining your children.
Many rumors are coming out of the Vikings’ office through social media. One thing that seems to be clear is that the Vikings won’t release Peterson, no matter how bad it gets. That’s their stance now. What is on the table is thinking about a trade if it becomes too big of a PR problem, not to mention not being able to play him this season for at least six games according to the domestic abuse regulations enforced by the NFL.
I wonder how much will that work. If Peterson does find himself in something of a legal bind which also badly reflects on his NFL career, not to mention disabling him from playing for quite some time, his trade value might hit the floor or go even lower. Who would want to trade for a player who was found guilty of abusing one of his children?
But this is the NFL, with weird logic and rules. If you paid the price for your crime – jail time that is, just like Michael Vick, than it’s easier to be forgiven. We’re still far away from actually knowing if that is what’s going to happen to Peterson, but all options are on the table.
The Vikings lost their week 2 game against the Patriots and are now 1-1 this season. Peterson has been in the NFL since 2007, all those years with the Vikings. He is a six-time Pro Bowl selection and three time first team All-Pro, leading the NFL in rushing yards a couple of times, including going for over 2000 yards in the 2012 season, winning the Offensive player of the year award.