Adrian Peterson has been the most consistent player on the Minnesota Vikings. At 29, the franchise star has no plans on changing his statistics, but could he eventually change his team? In the past two years, the Vikings have seen stars like Percy Harvin and Jared Allen depart Minnesota and Peterson admits he could easily be the next to go. With a new regime in place, Peterson likes what he sees from the new Vikings, but is it enough to keep him around for the future?
Peterson has a contract that runs through 2017, but more times than not this offseason his name has popped up in trade rumors. The running back is a $10 million cap hit this season which goes up next year. Peterson is seeing the writing on the wall when it comes to his future in Minnesota. The departures of Harvin and Allen show a team looking to get younger and save money, which might mean he is gone sooner rather than later.
"If that's going younger or trying to save money, that's what it boils down to, no matter what type of talent you are," Peterson said, via ESPN.com. "It's really the unfortunate part of the business, but I'm blessed to still be around, and hopefully, it doesn't happen to me one day. If it does, then, oh well. I'll go on and do something different with my career. I think the organization would take a heavy hit -- for real -- more so from the fan base. I don't think it would be like a LeBron [James] situation where they're burning my jersey, this, that and the other. They might be doing [the opposite] and not buying some season tickets."
Peterson notes that he likes what he sees from new head coach Mike Zimmer and offensive coordinator Norv Turner. The veteran said that practices have been upped as far as intensity is concerned and players are demonstrating more urgency than in years past. He believes that mentality is driving the quarterback competition with Matt Cassel and Teddy Bridgewater which will only improve the performance of the offense in general.
"Yeah, it is," Peterson said. "When you think about little league football, high school and even on to college even more so, you're dealing with a lot of guys that are prideful, that think they're the best, a lot of alpha males. So, typically, you've got to have a guy that can control those guys and, when [Mike zimmer] talks, they know he means business. He's a serious guy. A lot of guys are so used to that, because that's what they grow up on."
There is no chance the Vikings trade Peterson now. The running back is too valuable while the team works on figuring out their quarterback situation. However, next offseason could be when Minnesota fans are forced to say goodbye to the one-time MVP if the Vikings are in need of that extra salary cap space.
