The Adrian Peterson-Minnesota Vikings saga is probably going to get worse before it gets better.
The battle ramped up this week when his agent Ben Dogra plainly said the star running back doesn't want to be with the Vikings anymore.
"We want out of Minnesota," Dogra said, according to USA Today.
That has been the speculation for many weeks, but now there's no ambiguity remaining. The relationship is over, at least in the mind of one side. Dogra had told ESPN.com previously: "I don't think it's in Adrian's best interest to play in Minnesota. Why would it be?"
Ah, but Peterson doesn't have the control to determine where he plays next season. That would be with the Vikings, who he is under contract with through 2017. Coach Mike Zimmer, general manager Rick Spielman and co-owner Mark Wilf have said pretty clearly they want Peterson on the Vikings in 2015. They won't cut him and they won't trade him, they say, and that's not going over well. Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson reported last week that Dogra refused an invitation to have a dinner meeting with Spielman during the owners' meetings this week.
"Adrian is a member of our football team. He is under contract," Spielman said to ESPN.com in a statement that's consistent with everything the Vikings have said about the situation. "We are focused on the 2015 season and expect Adrian to be a part of that. Our whole focus is getting ready for the season with Adrian."
And away we go.
The Vikings probably could get out of the situation pretty easily (Robinson reported the Arizona Cardinals would entertain trading a second-round pick for Peterson, for instance) but why would they? The Vikings have all of the leverage.
Minnesota should have a pretty good team in 2015. They finished very well, with rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater making strides, and that was without Peterson. Peterson missed all but one game due to the court case regarding injuring his son while disciplining him with a switch, and then the NFL suspension that followed. From the Vikings perspective, the second-round pick or whatever they'd get for trading Peterson wouldn't be nearly as valuable as having the former NFL MVP back in the lineup. It's not like Dogra's public comments are helping Minnesota's trade leverage either. And cutting him really is out of the question, because it's not like his $12.75 million base salary could be re-invested very well this late in free agency.
So really it becomes pretty simple. Peterson plays for the Vikings at age 30 (and we know he's 30 because you don't ride a camel into your party for birthday No. 28 or 29), or he passes on $12.75 million in salary this year. After sitting out almost all of last year, that doesn't seem like a realistic option for Peterson.
So Peterson can ask for a divorce all he wants, but the Vikings would have to choose to downgrade their football team to accomodate his wish. There's really no upside for them to get rid of their best player. So, good luck with the Vikings this year Adrian.
- - - - - - -
Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
0 comments:
Post a Comment