Getty ImagesSo why did the Vikings give $36 million guaranteed to a guy who wasn’t clamoring for a new deal?
I supplied the answer during the info segment with Peter King of Sports Illustrated during the 2011 debut of Football Night in America, and I’ll say it (or at least type it) again.
If the Vikings hadn’t done a long-term deal with Peterson, we’re told that Peterson would have been done with the Vikings.
Yeah, they could have used the franchise tag on him at $12.84 million in 2012. But Peterson could have held out until the eve of the regular season, showing up unprepared — and possibly out of shape — and still made all that money. And even though Peterson had taken the high road, there’s a chance it could have gotten ugly, and that it would have stayed ugly until the Vikings traded him.
So where might Peterson have been traded? Given that he’s from Texas, a reverse-Herschel may have been the end result. Still, even though the Vikings would have gotten far less than what former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson called a “great train robbery” earlier today on the FOX pregame show.
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Great insight. Not.
Mike,
Where is your info on this? A.P. had been saying that he wanted to retire a Viking! If you have been hearing something else shouldn’t you be telling us.
This buffoon probably still thinks he’s enslaved.
Do you have a source or reason to believe this or is it pure speculation? I’d be curious to hear more if there’s any meat to this. And less if this came from your imagination.
Never playing for a team besides the Vikes? Priceless.
The guy never comes up big when its needed. They over paid him.
He’s worth all that and a bag ‘o chips.
Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda….The man got paid…Straight Cash, Homie
After today, he may just regret re-upping with the Vikings. I don’t see them challenging for a playoff spot for at least 4-5 years.
Did you just make all that up?
When your QB throws for a MONSTER 38 yards AND played the whole game – AP is probably going to ask for a trade, round about 7am tomorrow….
wow what was the point of this article?
I love “news” articles about what could have been.
Favre could have been named best QB ever after he possibly made a big play to beat the Saints and take the Vikings to the Super Bowl then beating Peyton Manning.
Peterson did everything right. He said nothing, kept his nose in the game, and the deal came to him. Chris Johnson should have listened. DeSean Jackson is doing the same thing AP did. People need to realize, you catch more bees with honey. That phrase is real, if you are a jerk, you’ll get treated like one.
The Vikings and Peterson all knew they needed to stay together. Big time RBs moving to a new team mid career isn’t always a great thing for the player. He is getting paid, again, and will go down as the best Viking ever easily. Proud of him. Always liked him.
Wow, this is an old school PFT post. All speculation with no facts to back up the far-fetched point.
Who is the captain obvious who thought of this title?
vikings should have traded him because they rely too heavily on him. look at the packers. they don’t rely on one single guy, and look what they get: a superbowl. the vikings get some flashy runs and a guy wearing spandex showing off his muscles so the announcers can continue to stroke themselves to him. if i’m the front office, i’ll take the superbowl over a running back with a flashy highlight reel.
the packers are doing everything right. the vikings are doing everything wrong. they are going to go 0-16, and they can’t draft andrew luck because they took that ponder kid in a panic. great move, again.
There is no source to support your claim so I have to assume it’s just your speculation
This is so ridiculous. No sources at all to back up this hypothesis. Sloppy, very very sloppy.
Huh?
so he wanted out if he wasn’t going to be locked up for the rest of his playing career. gotcha.
The highest paid RB in history put up a whopping 98 yards (most of which came on 1 carry) and no TDs in a loss.
He was also invisible out of the backfield but did protect very well for a QB who completed 7 passes.
But at least he produced something, unlike CJ who tallied less than 25 yards and no TDs.
Hard to get what you pay for when you are paying a modern-era elite NFL back.
And if Minnesota doesn’t get a stadium deal done…
Great Train Robbery? That Herschel Walker deal was manufactured by Mike Lynn so that he wouldn’t have to pay out the big bucks for high draft picks over the next three seasons. Lynn was a tightwad, and this deal gave him an easy out.
The Viking front office back in 1991 wasn’t stupid, they were cheapskates.
yourwhathurts says:Sep 11, 2011 7:35 PM
Mike,
Where is your info on this? A.P. had been saying that he wanted to retire a Viking! If you have been hearing something else shouldn’t you be telling us.
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I think you misunderstood, AD didsn’t say he wanted to retire a Viking.
He said the Vikings are retarded!
H will finish his career in LA
I bet he wishes he could take it back now….
Gotta have a big name draw when you move to L.A. Does anyone know if the Vikings have anymore 50% off tickets?
Here are AD’s yards on each of his rushing plays today:
14, 3, -2, 4, 2, 1, 2, 5, 3, 46, 3, 4, 5, 7, 5, 2
Anybody see a pattern? Very good to brilliant on 1 or 2 plays. Chester Taylor-like on the rest.
Wow…. What do you know…. How surprising to see all the stupid packer fans making comments. They seem a little worried about our no expectation Vikings and the season is only one game in ! Maybe the expectation is too much for them to take…… What do you think my fellow loyal Viking fans ?
Shanahan not looking to crazy now us he?
bzeller says:
Sep 11, 2011 11:17 PM
Wow…. What do you know…. How surprising to see all the stupid packer fans making comments. They seem a little worried about our no expectation Vikings and the season is only one game in ! Maybe the expectation is too much for them to take…… What do you think my fellow loyal Viking fans ?
What are you so boring you copy and paste this in Viking threads. This is why I hope the Vikings move to LA and you move with them. Your move will immediately increase anyone, who roots for any MN team, IQ by 10 pts.
Then at least there won’t be so many drooling idiots to contend with in the twin cities.
All u morons questioning the validity to this story are delusional to think that any star athlete would wanna live in Minnesota. That’s almost as dumb as tiger woods with all his money having to drive a Buick cuz he’s sponsored by them. No wonder they overpaid for him
beerbratscheese says:
Sep 11, 2011 7:46 PM
After today, he may just regret re-upping with the Vikings. I don’t see them challenging for a playoff spot for at least 4-5 years.
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In a league where team’s fortunes often turn in a couple of seasons, you somehow can see a half decade into the future. Another freakin’ genius!
borisbulldog says:
Sep 11, 2011 9:05 PM
I think you misunderstood, AD didsn’t say he wanted to retire a Viking.
He said the Vikings are retarded!
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Speaking of which; how was your day?
Carl Gerbschmidt says:
Sep 11, 2011 11:11 PM
Here are AD’s yards on each of his rushing plays today:
14, 3, -2, 4, 2, 1, 2, 5, 3, 46, 3, 4, 5, 7, 5, 2
Anybody see a pattern? Very good to brilliant on 1 or 2 plays. Chester Taylor-like on the rest.
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Actually it’s much more Barry Sanders like.
Besides, half of his carries where for as much or more yardage than half the teams in the league averaged last year (4.0+). That would include the Packers (3.8 yrds per attempt) despite having a great passing attack to take men out of the box. You can’t have only double digit runs in a game and average 5+ yrds per carry.
Minnysoda – who’s the idiot here….. Move to Wisconsin with all the other band wagon pucker fans….. Get real dude
deconjonesbitchslap says:
Sep 11, 2011 8:06 PM
vikings should have traded him because they rely too heavily on him. look at the packers. they don’t rely on one single guy, and look what they get: a superbowl. the vikings get some flashy runs and a guy wearing spandex showing off his muscles so the announcers can continue to stroke themselves to him. if i’m the front office, i’ll take the superbowl over a running back with a flashy highlight reel.
the packers are doing everything right. the vikings are doing everything wrong. they are going to go 0-16, and they can’t draft andrew luck because they took that ponder kid in a panic. great move, again.
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Really? They don’t rely on any one person? How good would they be without Aaron Rodgers? By the way, I will guarantee you they don’t go 0-16 or even have a chance for Andrew Luck. 2 years from now when Ponder is kicking the Packer’s behinds you’ll retract the statement. How do I know? I don’t. just like you don’t know if they will be playoff contenders for 4-5 years.