With NFL free agency unofficially beginning Tuesday, giving Adrian Peterson a chance to choose his team for 2017 and beyond, he might have more boxes he would like to check than serious suitors for his services.
Peterson, soon to be 32 and coming off a significant knee injury, has suggested he still feels he should be one of the NFL’s highest-paid running backs and believes he should continue to be the focal point of someone’s offense.
And Peterson, who has been a part of one career playoff win, hopes to play for a Super Bowl contender, one with a good coach and a good defense.
He also wouldn’t mind playing in his home state of Texas.
It appears Peterson could get a reality check this week when the NFL’s two-day negotiation window opens.
After a week with NFL decision-makers, agents and reporters at the NFL scouting combine, no clear suitors emerged.
Reports and rumors regarding Peterson have been about the teams that caught his eye, not the other way around.
The Boston Herald said Peterson was receptive to accepting less money to go chase a ring with the New England Patriots. But it would probably have to be way less than he made in 2016. Coach Bill Belichick has not given big bucks to a veteran back since Corey Dillon in 2005.
One ESPN report said Peterson is intrigued by the Oakland Raiders, who have one of the best offensive lines and a quality young quarterback in Derek Carr. Coach Jack Del Rio didn’t say the feeling was mutual.
New York Giants Coach Ben McAdoo said they would look into Peterson, just like every other free agent. Soon after, reports downplayed the Giants’ potential interest.
Ditto for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according to another ESPN report.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has a talented young running back, Ezekiel Elliott, who led the NFL in rushing as a rookie. The Houston Texans splurged last offseason for a free-agent running back, Lamar Miller.
Factor in a draft class of running backs that Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman has said is the best he’s seen, and it doesn’t seem like there will be many, if any, teams that want to hand out a big contract to a fading superstar.
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