Things are heating up in the Adrian Peterson front with the Minnesota Vikings somewhere between trying to keep him and aggressively shopping him. On the buyer’s list? The Dallas Cowboys, San Diego Chargers, Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The preferable scenario for the Vikings is that Peterson stays. Right now however, the All-Pro running back wants to play the rest of his NFL career elsewhere, with his agent aggressively working behind the scenes to try and get some team to put together a satisfactory package for the Vikings to agree to. But what is enough in the opinion of Minnesota?
There seems to be what they want to get and what everyone is willing to offer. The latest rumors suggest the Vikings are looking for a first round pick and a proven veteran on top of that, preferably a cornerback. That’s pretty much like saying ‘stay away’ because no one is giving the Vikings that kind of deal. So what will teams be giving for Peterson? Somewhere between a second round to a fourth round draft pick, probably.
Peterson wants to play for the Cowboys. That’s something of a dream for him and after losing DeMarco Murray in the offseason, they do need something better than what they’ve been able to come up with in the backfield so far. However, we’ll know a lot more about who is willing to go high with their offer to the Vikings once backs like Melvin Gordon and Todd Gurley are selected. In short, we’ll be a lot wiser after the draft.
As for his contract, Peterson is making $12.75 million next season, which puts the Jaguars (over $35 million in cap space) and the Buccaneers (over $25 million in cap space) in the best position to swallow Peterson’s remaining three-year contract, which is easy to get rid of once this season is over. However, reworking the deal as a condition to bringing him over might be something everyone is going to try and force on Peterson and his agent, who don’t have a really strong bargaining starting point.
In his last full season (2013), Peterson for 1266 yards and 10 touchdowns. He turned 30 last month, and everyone is wondering whether he has anything left in the tank. The Vikings, despite everything that’s been said by Peterson’s agent about the franchise, do still prefer to hang on to him.