The Minnesota Vikings will deal with Adrian Peterson trade rumors to teams like the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins if they struggle again in 2014 like they did last season and Teddy Bridgewater could be the barometer of how well the team is playing, because if he is starting that means Matt Cassel is not playing well or the team is losing and that is something Mike Zimmer could deal with this year.
Peterson has never demanded a trade from the Vikings and likely would not, since he is making a nice chunk of change on his contract, but if the team falters like they did last year, the cries of trading Peterson will not die down. According to Mike Freeman from Bleacher Report, the trade rumors last season were more about the way the team was playing, but going forward the two sides could be heading for a split in the future, as Peterson is getting to the age of 30, which is when running backs usually start to break down.
Peterson has been as durable and productive as anyone over the past five years and apart from his knee injury, he has been healthy and extremely durable and after rushing for 2,000 yards, he had 1,266 last season and with Zimmer and Norv Turner coming in, the offense could change a bit. Freeman writes that the Vikings will start using more of a two back system with Turner and that due to the devaluing of running backs in the league, it's only a matter of time before the two sides have to split. The Vikings are trying to build back their team after making the playoffs two years ago and Peterson's contract may not be worth it cap-wise and that could lead to a trade or a cut of Peterson this season or after this year.
Bridgewater comes in as a first round pick and for now he is not set to start for the Vikings, but he could push his way into the backup role behind Matt Cassel. The Vikings held onto Christian Ponder this offseason and one of the main reasons was due to the fact that they did not know if Bridgewater would be ready or not to play. Bridgewater showed in workouts so far that he has some talent, but like any other rookie he struggled on some throws. Turner said that Ponder and Bridgewater are competing together behind Cassel and that there will be competition in training camp, meaning Bridgewater could come out and win the job if he plays well.
Last season the Vikings ranked 23rd in the league in passing yards per game being Ponder and Cassel and Ponder did not get the job done and he also was injured and that is why Cassel took over. Cassel opted out of his deal this offseason and signed a two year deal and he could be the bridge QB until Bridgewater is ready. No pun intended. The Vikings went just 5-10-1 last season and now they will try and rebound this year with Zimmer coming in and the team going outside at the University of Minnesota as their new stadium gets built.