Cardinals

Cardinals An Unlikely Option For Adrian Peterson Despite Trade Rumors

March 16, 2015

In recent weeks, there have been a few reports that the Cardinals could be the team to watch for Adrian Peterson if the Vikings made him available for trade.

However, Peter King of MMQB.com, citing a reliable Cardinals source, reports that the three years and $45 million remaining on Peterson’s contract is an “absolute non-starter” for Arizona.

“We haven’t had contact with the Vikings about it, to the best of my knowledge,” King’s source said. “And there is no way we could live with those numbers. We just got Larry Fitzgerald’s contract under control. No way we’d add that salary.”

According to King, the other issues with this idea is that the Cardinals love this year’s running-back rookie class, and are in a great position to come away with one of the best prospects at either No. 23 or No. 55 overall.

The other issue is Peterson’s age, as he will be 30 years old on Saturday.

Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports reported over the weekend Peterson is still unhappy with his current situation and the Cardinals would be willing to offer Minnesota a “high draft pick” in return for Peterson.
Robinson adds that it sounds like the Vikings could get at least get a second round pick for Peterson as things stand right now.

Peterson, 29, still has another three years remaining on his seven-year, $96 million contract that included $36 million guaranteed. Over the next three years, Peterson stands to make base salaries of $12.75 million (2015), $14.75 million (2016), and $16.75 million (2017).

As for his cap figures, the Vikings are looking at $15.4 million (2015), $15 million (2016), and $17 million (2017).

According to OverTheCap.com, trading Peterson would free up $13 million in available cap space and create $2.4 million dead money.

Peterson appeared in just one game for the Vikings and ran for 75 yards on 21 carries (3.6 YPC) while adding two receptions for 18 yards receiving and no touchdowns.

We’ll have more regarding the Vikings and Peterson as the news is available.