As the Adrian Peterson situation continues to unravel day by day, the Minnesota Vikings are slowly biting their nails harder than an avid March Madness contributor in the final seconds of the second half. On a roller coaster of events with Peterson, in ways, this one is positive.
#Vikings GM Rick Spielman told Adrian Peterson's agent, Ben Dogra, tonight the team won't release him. No surprise but that's off the table.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 19, 2015
As of lately, the Viking’s (and Viking’s fans) can stop clinching their fists, biting those nails, and sit back and relax for the time being. For now, according to Tom Pelissero of USA Today, the Vikings general manger Rick Spielman told Adrian Peterson’s agent Ben Dogra that they will not cut him, and that they want him back. Now that doesn’t necessarily guarantee for an instant that Peterson is 100% staying with the Viking’s, but it does give a sign of relief regarding whether he’s going somewhere or not. One of many options that could’ve happened.
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After all it wasn’t out of the ordinary for the Vikings to do this, Peterson is one of the best running-backs in the league, even after tearing his ACL and MCL. Most of us obviously remember the incredible comeback year he had, almost breaking Eric Dickerson’s record at 2,097 yards (Dickerson had 2,105.)
Aside from the lovely numbers, Peterson of course, has a huge contract. With three years remaining on his $96 million contract, the Viking’s owe Peterson $12.75 million for the upcoming 2015 season; in case you didn’t already know, that’s a lot of money. So for the Viking’s to just release Peterson would make little to zero sense.
On top of that, this in some sort of way, works out for the team. If they want to get rid of him or vise versa, his trade value will be through the roof (even though it would be anyway). Most fans are hoping Peterson does not get traded for obvious reasons, but if by some chance that does happen, expect great players out of it. Last month, Peterson said he is “uneasy” on coming back to the team, but since the team won’t release him, it’s all just a big mess as of now.
Regardless, the 2012 MVP is still a Viking, and that’s all that matters to them.
So go ahead and take that deep breath Vikings fans, you’re safe, for now. Although there have been rumors around that Peterson and the Arizona Cardinals making a potential trade, they’d have to offer a lot of their best players for this guy. When it all comes down to it, Peterson has totaled 10,190 yards (ranked 28th all time) and 86 touchdowns since the team drafted him in 2007. While that is still up in the air with the rest of this head aching issue that drives Minnesota fans insane, the Vikings continue to make smart moves to slowly but surely better their team. The Vikings are only in the beginning, and not even near the end of this potential disaster.
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