Adrian Peterson rumors: Saints closing on deal
By John Buhler
After spending quite a while on the open market, it seems that the New Orleans Saints are closing in on a deal with free agent running back Adrian Peterson.
Soon-to-be Hall of Fame running back Adrian Peterson spent his first 10 NFL seasons in the Twin Cities playing for the Minnesota Vikings. While he never won a Super Bowl with the Vikings, he will go down as the greatest running back in Vikings franchise history.
That being said, Peterson is on the wrong side of 30 and will have to continue his NFL career away from the Twin Cities. After being a free agent for well over a month, it seems that Peterson may be finding a new home in the The Big Easy.
According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Peterson and the New Orleans Saints are “believed to be closing in on a deal that would pay him [$3 million in 2017].” Expect Peterson to only sign a one-year deal this offseason, as it is a year-by-year sort of thing before he does call it a career.
Sources: #Saints & Adrian Peterson believed to be closing in on a deal that’d pay him $3M+ in ’17. Not done, but moving in that direction.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 24, 2017
Rapoport would add that the deal is “not done, but moving in that direction.” One has to wonder what the Saints see in adding an aging veteran in the form of Peterson. New Orleans’ primary tailback Mark Ingram Jr. is a more versatile tailback of Peterson. He can do a bit of everything in the Saints backfield, while Peterson likely needs to run up the middle as a bit of a battering ram.
New Orleans offense is predominantly passing centric with quarterback Drew Brees still in the back-end of his illustrious prime. Perhaps head coach Sean Payton wants to devise a way that Brees won’t have to throw the ball 50+ times for the Saints to win weekly shootouts to get into the NFC playoffs.
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Adding a proven running back in Peterson could help establish more balance in the Saints offense, possibly aiding its lackluster, but improving defense. If Peterson can help the Saints chew up clock late in games, more power to him and the Saints organization. It’ll be interesting to see if he does end up inking that one-year deal with the Saints.