Adrian Peterson set to get suspended?

The NFL has made several disciplinary blunders this season, and their hasty pushing out of Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson could come back to bite them if they aren’t careful. While the NFL knows that taking a harsh stance on AP was always the best policy and the No. 1 priority, they now have to face the possibility of immediately reinstating him. It’s a nuanced situation, because Peterson was effectively suspended for eight games before he was even sentenced, but the fact that he was paid complicates things further. He pleaded “no contest” and was forced to pay a fine and serve community service, and a fine to the NFL seems likely, given that he collected game checks during his absence.

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Per a source close to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the NFL considers Peterson’s eight-game absence to be “paid-leave” and does not consider it to be a form of actual discipline. Rapoport tweets that a “suspension looms” for Peterson, but I wouldn’t blame you for being skeptical of that.

Where legal matters are concerned, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio is the go-to-guy, and I loved his suggestion on PFT Live earlier this week. It would make sense to bring Peterson back for the rest of the season after he already missed time, but, to make up for the game checks he collected, the NFL could make it so that Peterson doesn’t get paid for the rest of the season. After getting paid and not playing, he would then play but not get paid, thus evening things out (in a way). That’s obviously difficult to coordinate, so it will be interesting to see what sort of financial punishments the league mulls over.