In an effort to try and make the team less competitive and enjoyable to watch, sources have indicated that the Minnesota Vikings “have been attempting to trade Adrian Peterson for weeks.”
The 2012 MVP of the league, and 2007 Offensive Rookie of the Year, Adrian Peterson has seen his career take a hard turn for the worse, as he was found to have disciplined his child to an unwarranted extent during the 2015 season. These actions led to his suspension by the league for all but one game in 2015, and his required non-contact with the team. Feelings were hurt, but the Vikings had to play on.
And play on they did. What they found was that – even without their former MVP on the roster – rookie Teddy Bridgewater and a rejuvenated defense helped spark the Vikings to a mediocre 7-9 season, third place in the NFC North, and another season without a playoff appearance. For spineless GM Rick Spielman, he couldn’t have asked for anything more.
Sources have indicated Spielman was wary of his young team’s success without Adrian Peterson. Fearing that the return of the best running back in the league joining a young quarterback making strides and an emerging defense with another year under Mike Zimmer may make the Vikings a legitimate playoff contender, Spielman has apparently decided to offer Peterson up on the trade market to see what middling assets he can obtain by trading his start player.
Spielman has allegedly been planning ways to keep the Vikings to always be tantalizingly awful, good but not great, able to sell tickets but never good enough to have to invest in. Welcoming an MVP athlete back to the Vikings in the middle of his career prime – coming off a year of zero football related activity so that his legs will be SUPER fresh – was just too frightening of a concept for Speilman, allege our sources. He seems to figure that by trading Adrian, he can market the Vikings as a “rebuilding young team” with players he will eventually lose in free agency before they become too competitive. Or, as we have seen with Percy Harvin and now Adrian Peterson, a valuable asset he can trade away for liquid assets via draft picks if they become to game-changing, too young.
Inside sources wager that by trading Peterson and welcoming players like Matt Asiata back to the team, the Vikings can expect a win / loss variance of +/-2 in 2015. Doing so would perhaps allow them to stumble blindly into a first round playoff exit, or prepare to market another “high draft pick” as the future of the team. Regardless, people close to the situation reveal that Rick Spielman is excited about either outcome.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
