Adrian Peterson is a free agent

The Minnesota Vikings have declined Adrian Peterson’s option on his contract and he will become a free agent.

Adrian Peterson is about to hit the free agency market. The Minnesota Vikings have declined Peterson’s option for the 2017 season and he will hit the open market as a free agent. This is the first time in his career that he will be a free agent.

Peterson has had issues with injuries over the past few seasons and paired with his age the Vikings decided that it might be time for them to move on. At 31-years of age, Peterson is not the youngest running back in the league but he is definitely still capable of playing at an elite level.

Peterson will become an unrestricted free agent on Thursday, Mar. 9 and is expected to have talks with a plethora of teams looking for running backs. Said teams can begin talking with Peterson on Mar. 7. Peterson will hold discussions with teams and he will surely find a new home before the start of the 2017 season. And although it seems like a long shot, he could be back in Minnesota.

Peterson was held out of most of the 2016 season with a torn right meniscus in his knee. Peterson’s injury paired with the injury to their quarterback Teddy Bridgewater made for a terrible season for the Vikings.

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An experienced runner like Peterson will not stay on the market for long. In the 2016 season, Peterson had a total of 37 carries for 72 yards and zero touchdowns. In the 2015 season, he had 327 carries for 1,485 yards and 11 touchdowns. Peterson also ranks 16th on the NFL’s career rushing yards list. Those numbers prove that Peterson can produce at a high rate when he is healthy.