Report: Adrian Peterson Unlikely To Be Immediately Reinstated With Plea Deal

Oct 8, 2014; Conroe, TX, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson enters the Montgomery county courthouse for his arraignment. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 8, 2014; Conroe, TX, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson enters the Montgomery county courthouse for his arraignment. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is not expected to immediately be reinstated with the NFL if he accepts his plea deal.

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If Adrian Peterson is to agree on a plea deal which would reduce his felony child-abuse charges to misdemeanors, the NFL and the Minnesota Vikings will not immediately reinstate him.

That’s the word from NFL insider Ian Rapoport who suggests a potential reinstatement could be down the road assuming Peterson’s charges are reduced, though it will not come in the near future.

Even if Adrian Peterson’s felony child-abuse charges are reduced it’s understandably not a good look to allow a player facing such damaging allegations back on the field so quickly. It’s not even known if the Minnesota Vikings would want Adrian Peterson back at this point, though they’d apparently have plenty of time to make a decision regarding his future assuming Rapoport’s suggestion is correct.

There doesn’t appear to be a set formula on behalf of the NFL in regards to how they handle the return of a player coming off suspension/ban so nobody appears to know why Adrian Peterson wouldn’t be allowed back immediately outside of the potential public relations nightmare, which could be reason enough in itself.

Of course if the NFL prevents Adrian Peterson from returning to the league once he has dealt with his legal issues, that could lead to potential work related legal actions.

Needless to say it’s a murky situation that doesn’t appear ready to clear itself up even if the abuse charges are reduced to misdemeanors.

Reports have suggested a plea deal could be struck as early as Tuesday though may stretch later into the week.

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