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Adrian Peterson wants more guaranteed money to stay with Minnesota Vikings

By Patrick Schmidt

Aug 8, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (28) talks along the sidelines during the game with the Oakland Raiders at TCF Bank Stadium. Vikings win 10-6. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 8, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (28) talks along the sidelines during the game with the Oakland Raiders at TCF Bank Stadium. Vikings win 10-6. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports /
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Adrian Peterson may change his tune and decide he wants to stay with the Minnesota Vikings if they show some support in the form of guaranteeing the remaining dollars on his contract.

The Minnesota Vikings don’t want to lose future Hall of Fame running back Adrian Peterson and have no inclination to trade him unless they get blown away with a trade offer involving a first round pick to begin negotiations, but there’s one way they can make him happy.

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It’s always about the money, even when it’s not about the money. Peterson would drop his trade request if the Vikings guaranteed the rest of the money owed to him on the three remaining years on his contract, according to Jason Cole of The Bleacher Report.

Peterson is scheduled to make $12.75 million as a 30-year-old running back in 2015, $14.75 million in 2016 and $16.75 million in 2017 as part of the seven-year, $96 million contract that included $36 million in guaranteed money years ago.

That’s a grand total of $44.25 million they’d have to guarantee to a running back who is at the age when running backs experience a dramatic decrease in production and would be $8.25 million more in guaranteed money than the seven-year contract he signed when he was in the middle of his prime as the game’s best running back.

Can you say for certain that Peterson will be the best running back in the NFL at 30, 31 and 32? That’s the tricky position the Vikings find themselves after Peterson’s expressed his desire for a new home after he believed they didn’t supports him enough while he was embroiled in legal trouble stemming from abusing his four-year-old son.

Peterson was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list last year after Week 1 where he was paid to not play as his legal situation was resolved. He pled no contest to one count of misdemeanor reckless assault in November and later was suspended by the NFL.

So Peterson is upset and has some hurt feelings because the Vikings didn’t support their player who gave a no contest plea which has the same legal effect as pleading guilty. Again, Peterson is mad at the team for not supporting a player who essentially pled guilty to abusing his four-year-old child with a switch.

The Vikings have publicly supported Peterson and welcomed him back after he was reinstated last Friday, so I would tell Peterson to get over your bruised ego and to honor your contract and show up to the team’s offseason workout program.

Demanding a trade and skipping offseason workouts, even though they aren’t mandatory is not the best look for a player who put his employers in an untenable situation last year after you beat your kid. If he is granted his wish and traded to a new team, he’s rewarded for his behavior while the Vikings are the ones left in the lurch.

If I’m the Vikings, I’m not guaranteeing him the remaining dollars on his contract and I’m not in a rush to trade him, even with the NFL Draft 10 days away. I’m willing to let this thing play out and wait until Peterson blinks and shows up to training camp, even if it means he sits out regular season games because I’m not letting him get what he wants after he made us play 15 games without him last year.

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