Adrian Peterson has said he’d like to stay with the Vikings. Teammate Chad Greenway thinks there’s a good chance Peterson won’t be back.
Much more will be known soon.
Peterson’s contract pays him a $6 million roster bonus on March 11. Once the Vikings make that payment, they’ll be as a practical matter locked in for another $12 million in salary ($11.75 million) and workout bonus ($250,000).
So if Peterson is going to be squeezed to take less, the time to squeeze is now. Which means the questions will be: (1) how much less than $18 million will the Vikings offer?; (2) how much would another team be willing to pay?; and (3) would Adrian Peterson be willing to force his release so that he then could sign a new contract with the Vikings or someone else whenever he wants?
Peterson has made it clear that he doesn’t like the grind of the offseason program and training camp. He could avoid much of it by becoming a free agent and picking his next destination later in the year.
If that’s what he wants to do, he’ll have an easy way to make it happen. He’ll simply need to refuse to take a penny less than the $18 million he’s due to make in 2017.