If Adrian Peterson plans on playing in the NFL next season, the Minnesota Vikings will have him.
On Wednesday, Vikings general manager Rick Spielman made it clear that the team expects Peterson back when he becomes eligible for reinstatement on April 15.
“I don’t know if there’s a team in the NFL that wouldn’t want Adrian Peterson on the football team,” Spielman said, per Mark Craig of The Star Tribune. “If you can name me one … and I don’t want to speak for other teams. I’m being a little sarcastic with that. But I know that he’s a pretty good football player.”
Peterson was originally suspended on Nov. 18 following allegations of child abuse. He later pleaded no contest to a lesser charge than felony child abuse in order to avoid jail time, but the NFL suspended him for the remainder of the 2014 season anyway.
Peterson will turn 30 on March 21. That’s almost ancient by NFL running back standards, but this is the same guy who rushed for over 2,000 yards and won the league MVP award in 2012 after tearing his ACL. Spielman is confident in both Peterson’s ability to still be an effective rusher and his off-field character.
“I’ll just stick by with what I’ve said,” the GM said. “I know that Adrian is a good person, just being around him. I know he’s done a lot of good in this community. What he did — he just came out and said he made a mistake. As [coach Mike Zimmer] had stated earlier, he has to get all that in order and then we’ll proceed from there.”
No matter how you look at it, the future is cloudy for AP. He was so disgusted with the NFL suspending him for the season that he said he is contemplating retiring and continuing his athletic career elsewhere. We also know Peterson has expressed interest in playing for a certain team in Texas.
Peterson will count more than $15 million against the cap if he remains with the Vikings next season, making him the highest-paid running back in the league. The team will have to determine if he is worth that kind of money at age 30.
