Report: Jay Gruden wanted to cut Adrian Peterson, was overruled

The Washington Redskins signed Adrian Peterson to a new two-year contract following his surprisingly productive season in 2018, but apparently the veteran running back would not still be with the team if Jay Gruden got his way.

Jason Bishop of 106.7 The Fan in Washington, D.C., reports that he was told by a “well-placed source” that Gruden did not want to keep Peterson on Washington’s roster heading into Week 1. Peterson proved he can still be productive even at age 34 by rushing for over 1,000 yards and scoring seven touchdowns last season, but Gruden is said to be tired of AP not wanting to be a backup.

“AP likes to get in Jay’s ear if he’s not playing. And Jay doesn’t want to deal with it,” Bishop said. “And that’s a well-placed source that told us that. And so there was a fight… apparently, there was some sort of a disagreement on Saturday over (at Redskins) Park about it.”

Gruden made it clear on Monday that second-year running back Derrius Guice will be Washington’s starter, which makes sense if the former LSU star is healthy. The Redskins used a second-round pick on Guice last year before he tore his ACL in the preseason.

“The offense, carries-wise, will pretty much go through him,” Gruden told reporters on Monday.

If you remember, Peterson had an animated disagreement with Sean Payton when he was with the New Orleans Saints two years ago. There was speculation that Peterson was complaining about playing time, but he later insisted he was just urging Payton to run the ball more.