The Minnesota Vikings have an $18 million decision to make between now and the middle of March. It’s somewhat of a potentially dramatic decision that could involve parting ways with one of the best players in franchise history, Adrian Peterson.
Coming off a 2016 campaign that saw him play just three games due to myriad of injuries, Peterson is set to collect $18 million for the 2017 season. It’s a sum of cash that would make him the highest-paid running back by at least $7 million. It’s also a sum of cash the Vikings won’t pay Peterson. They can get out from under his contract without paying a penny of the $18 million.
So it stands to reason that either the Vikings will move on from Peterson completely or the two sides will come to terms on a contract restructure.
At the very least, it looks like the lines of communication is open between the two sides. According to Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole, the Vikings’ brass and Peterson’s agent are set for a meeting next week. It will presumably come at the annual NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
Agents for RB Adrian Peterson, CB Terence Newman plan to meet with #Vikings next week to assess what the two sides will do going forward.
— Jason Cole (@JasonCole62) February 24, 2017
It’s long been concluded that Minnesota would part ways with Peterson. Not only is it a sound football decision, it makes sense from a financial aspect. Simply put, Peterson is no longer the valuable running back that we saw lead the NFL in yards back in 2015.
At 31 years old and coming off an injury-plagued season, an argument could be made that Peterson is not even worth half of what he’s set to make in 2017.
With that said, this situation isn’t as clear as some might make it out to be. Peterson is considered one of the greatest running backs of the modern era. He also seems to have something left in the tank. Whether that will be with the Vikings remains to be seen.