Adrian Peterson rumors took another interesting turn. The Minnesota Vikings won’t release Peterson before the 2015 NFL season. It means that the front office either plans to keep the former MVP to lead the team or that a trade could be in the near future. A report on ESPN revealed this information has come from his agent (Ben Dorga), who hasn’t been shy about talking to the press about his client.
“It was important for me to relay the position the Vikings are taking to Adrian. I want to make sure there is absolutely no confusion whatsoever.”
What this means is that Peterson won’t reach free agency and remains in line to earn $12.75 million in 2015. The salary cap hit for the Vikings comes in at $15.4 million if he remains on the roster. It’s a burden that the Dallas Cowboys could be interested in taking on, especially after the team lost DeMarco Murray to free agency. The cost might be prohibitive to that team as well, though, especially as they look to add other pieces this offseason.
These Adrian Peterson rumors provide fresh information about the situation, but it isn’t the first time that his name has popped up this offseason. As reported previously on Inquisitr , the Cowboys may have been targeting Peterson for a while now. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would surely be interested in having some serious discussions about the acquisition and the team certainly has a few picks in the 2015 NFL Draft it could offer up.
Despite all the new buzz that surrounds these Adrian Peterson rumors, one of the biggest issues is that he still isn’t eligible to play football games. Even though he has his suspension overturned by the courts, Yahoo! revealed back in February that the NFL decided it would place him back on the exempt list that the commissioner controls. It means there are more hoops to get through before he can play again. Part of a statement that the league sent out addressed that and stated that an appeal would be made to reinstate the suspension.
“In the interim, Adrian Peterson will be returned to the Commissioner Exempt List pending further proceedings by appeals officer Harold Henderson or a determination by the Eighth Circuit Court.”
There is still a lot of time before the regular season rolls around, but there won’t be a lot of time for the Minnesota Vikings to make an ultimate decision about what comes next. If the team truly plans to hold on to its star running back, then it’s only an issue of getting the league office to activate him again. Until an announcement is made, though, more Adrian Peterson rumors are likely to surface before the upcoming draft. With several teams in need of an improvement at running back (Dallas Cowboys, San Diego Chargers) the situation could continue to be interesting.
[Images by Adam Bettcher and Dilip Vishwanat/Getty]