Jeff Curry USA TODAY Sports
Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is eligible to be reinstated by the NFL on April 15, and a situation that started with his indictment on child abuse charges last September should finally be resolved in terms of his availability to play.
Peterson has stated some uncertainty about returning to the Vikings, and his agent has joined the party by putting his client’s desire to be elsewhere into those exact words. For what it’s worth the team has consistently held to the idea they want Peterson back, at least partially due to the unavoidable fact he is under contract with them for the next three seasons.
Removal from the commissioner’s exempt list looks like a mere formality for Peterson at this point, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com is reporting a meeting between the league and Peterson will come on Tuesday. While nothing is likely to be official until next week, I expect we’ll see nothing but positive reports citing “sources” after the conclusion of that meeting regarding Peterson’s reinstatement.
With Peterson’s status slated to become clear soon, and his ability to suit up again no longer in doubt, an opportunity for the Vikings to trade him will be opened up. Any team that has even a passing interest in making a deal for the now 30-year old running back may turn up the dial on trade talks before the start of the draft, and a move during the first round on the night of April 30 is a distinct possibility.
The top two teams in terms of trade rumors surrounding Peterson to this point have been the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals, which I don’t expect to change much once his availability for next season is assured. But other teams with enough salary cap space to take on Peterson’s contract (Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns), or a short window to win with their current group of key players (San Diego Chargers, Atlanta Falcons), can’t be ruled out as possible suitors.
I think the Vikings’ public stance about wanting Peterson back has been a facade all along, since saying anything else would sabotage their trade leverage. I remind you that general manager Rick Spielman said he had “no intent” to trade Percy Harvin during a radio interview at the 2013 NFL Combine, and the high-maintenance wide receiver was dealt to the Seattle Seahawks in mid-March.
The circumstances surrounding Peterson are not the same that permanently severed Harvin’s relationship with the Vikings, to a point where no other move could realistically be made. But many of Spielman’s comments regarding Peterson over the last few months have taken the same tone as the comments related to Harvin a little more than two years ago, and when a trade is made before the end of the month we’ll see that the Vikings wanted to unload Peterson all along.
Brad Berreman is a Columnist/Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter.
