Cardinals CB Patrick Peterson Not Expected To Hold Out For A Long-Term Deal

Earlier in the week, Cardinals CB Patrick Peterson joined Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk and wouldn’t rule out the possibility that he could hold out for a long-term contract during the offseason.

“I can’t speak on that right now,” Peterson told PFT on Tuesday. “Me and my agent, we haven’t talked about some of those possibilities. But hopefully we can get something done. If something were to happen, we restructure my deal or anything like that, we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”

However, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN doesn’t see Peterson going this route and instead expects him to be ready for the start of the 2014 season.

“When I heard that Peterson didn’t shoot down the idea of holding out in 2014, I instantly went right back to a comment he made to me. He said he loves playing football so much that he doesn’t like bye weeks because it’s a few days away from the field” Weinfuss writes. “If Peterson can’t handle two days away from football, how would he tackle a few weeks or months away? The answer is short: He won’t. I don’t think Peterson holds out, even from OTAs and minicamps, regardless of how much money is on the table. There’s nothing that said a deal has to be made this offseason.”

Peterson, still just 24 years old, has quickly established himself as one of the best cornerbacks in the league and is even in the discussion for the best athlete in the game.

With this in mind, Peterson is in a great position to sign a huge contract at some point in the not-too-distant future, as he’s entering the final year of his rookie contract. However, the Cardinals do have a 2015 option available to them, which would keep him under team control for another two years at reasonable salary.

Other teams around the NFL are expected to take their time regarding long-term extension for 2011 first-round picks, so this is just another situation to keep an eye on in the next few months.