With Ezekiel Elliott holding out, Mike Florio suggested the Dallas Cowboys could finally go after Adrian Peterson, but could that actually happen?
The Pride of Palestine has expressed a desire to return home and play for the Dallas Cowboys, but it just simply never happened. After 10 successful seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Adrian Peterson hit free agency in 2017 but the Cowboys were not interested as they had just added Ezekiel Elliott the following season in the NFL Draft.
The No. 4 overall pick had just led the NFL in rushing the season prior so Dallas wasn’t interested in adding another big name. As for Peterson, he then headed to the New Orleans Saints but was cut after six games. He then finished the year with the Arizona Cardinals. Overall, he had just 529 yards and appeared to be done.
Then, the Washington Redskins came calling as Derrius Guice tore his ACL and AP showed that he still had it. At 33 years of age, he ran for 1,042 yards and seven touchdowns.
While he then returned to the Redskins this season, the team is expected to have Guice back as the leading rusher, meaning Peterson could be a reserve should he remain in D.C. He could even find himself battling with Samaje Perine for the second role, and head coach Jay Gruden has been raving about Perine as of late.
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Meanwhile, in Dallas, they’re currently entangled in a contract dispute with Elliott, who is training on his own in Cabo while the rest of the team is at Training Camp. Longing for a new contract, Zeke hopes to force the team’s hand but there are some reports that they’re not wanting to spend $15 million-plus on a running back — which got the wheels in Mike Florio’s head-turning.
The Pro Football Talk founder said that if the Cowboys really want to dig in during this dispute, they should call the Redskins and see what it would take to land Peterson in a trade. Florio, who says he is just throwing out a “spitball” does understand that a trade within the division won’t be easy and the Cowboys might have to throw some cash out to Washington as well considering they just paid AP a hefty signing bonus.
"“The problem, of course, is that Peterson currently plays for Washington, one of the Cowboys’ arch-rivals. Also, Washington gave Peterson a $1.5 million signing bonus earlier this year, and they’d likely want added compensation for taking a hit of $750,000 this year and next year. But with coach Jay Gruden recently raving about Samaje Perine and with 2018 second-rounder Derrius Guice healthier than expected, maybe Peterson is expendable — albeit potentially expensive.” — Florio, Pro Football Talk"
Even with there being hurdles, crazier things have happened. Washington could also see this as a chance to add an extra draft pick to help them down the road. Washington surely needs to look at their long-term plan, especially considering they just drafted Dwayne Haskins and are set to turn the offense over to him.
Adding some more ammunition in future drafts to build around their young signal-caller — as well as getting some monetary reimbursement — could mean more than having a 34-year old running back on their 2019 roster.
Of course, this all comes down to whether or not Dallas truly wants to extend Elliott. They’ve shown in the past they will take a hardline approach, such as with DeMarco Murray, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility. Although, it does still feel like a stretch even though Peterson would surely love to finish his career in his home state.