Vikings running back Adrian Peterson has twice in recent weeks expressed interest in joining the Giants -- once directly and the other time indirectly. But the Giants have yet to return the favor, directly or indirectly.
Paul Schwartz of the New York Post points out that the Giants have shown no interest in acquiring Peterson. Given the tampering rules, they can’t say anything publicly about Peterson. However, it would be easy for them to leak to one or more reporters that they’re interested in Peterson, and they haven’t.
Then again, the Giants also haven’t leaked that they aren’t interested. Until that happens -- in a credible way -- it will be impossible to know for sure whether they’d have interest in Peterson, if/when he’s released by Minnesota.
Peterson’s age works against him; he’ll turn 32 next month, and as Schwartz points out the Giants have only two players under contract who are on the wrong side of 30 (quarterback Eli Manning and cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie). The Giants also have two running backs who can arguably get the job done in Paul Perkins and Shane Vereen. That could make Peterson a luxury the Giants can’t afford.
Then there’s the Josh Brown angle. Although Brown is long gone, the embarrassment arising from the team’s decision to sign him to a new deal when it knew about his domestic-violence situation still lingers. The question becomes whether the Giants would embrace the potential P.R. fallout that would come from signing Peterson. That question hinges on whether they think that adding Peterson would be worth the potential trouble they would face.
So far, they’ve said and done nothing to suggest that they would roll the dice on Peterson. But they also have yet to say or do anything to suggest that they wouldn’t.
Regardless of the information that comes to light publicly about whether the Giants would want Peterson, Peterson and his agents need to determine whether the Giants or any other teams (like the Buccaneers and Texans) would be interested (and how much they’d pay) before making a decision on whether to accept whatever reduced offer the team makes before March 11, when he’s currently due to earn a $6 million roster bonus.