The Minnesota Vikings are going to be without Adrian Peterson, as he has been suspended for the 2014 season and while he will appeal, he has been hit by the league and with this there has been plenty of speculation about AP's future and potential trade deals and one spot could be the Dallas Cowboys, as Jerry Jones has shown interest in the RB and on top of that star DeMarco Murray is set for a big new contract and he potentially could leave as a free agent.
UPDATE: Peterson has been suspended for the rest of the season according to ESPN.com.
While both moves are very unlikely, Jones has shown that he is willing to take risks and he could sign Peterson if he is cut from the Vikings at some point in the future. A trade is possible, but with the amount of money on Peterson's deal it's unlikely that happens. Murray also likely will sign back with the Cowboys since he is developing into a top running back, but as Andrew Brandt at the MMQB has written before, RBs are becoming the least "valuable" asset in the league.
What Brandt means and what connects it to the Cowboys is that with so much wear and tear on Murray and the fact that RBs have a short shelf life, it often doesn't make sense to pay them big money as they get older. The running back position is a transient one and while Peterson has been with Minnesota for his entire career and has been durable and productive, not all teams have that same luck. The Cowboys haven't had that luck and while Murray has broken out this year, he has shown in the past that he can be an injury prone player.
The Cowboys came up as a target this summer, as Outside the Lines reported on ESPN in a profile of Jerry Jones a phone call between the owner and Peterson. The report detailed that the two spoke on the phone over the summer and both expressed interest in one day working together. Peterson came up in trade rumors last season when the team was playing terribly and at the NFL draft this year Mike Freeman wrote a great article detailing why the two sides likely would be heading for a split. With Peterson getting to 30 years old and Norv Turner hoping to use more two back sets, paying Peterson such a high amount on the cap space would start to not make much sense anymore.
There was no tampering involved since it was an innocent conversation, but it opened up some possibilities for the future. Peterson is getting paid a ton of money and if the Vikings don't trade him, there is a chance he could be released. The dead money on the contract is low enough this offseason where the team could consider making a move.
Peterson has a $12.75 million salary next season and his cap hit is higher than that and the Vikings may end up making a move just to cut costs on the cap. Peterson is a great player, but the PR that goes with all this could make him expendable for the team in the near future. Only time will tell.
DeMarco Murray has been a strong MVP candidate this season and while the Cowboys want to keep him, he could demand too much money. Peterson is getting paid a ton of money as well, but if he is eventually released he could be a main target for the Cowboys. Peterson has been one of the best players in the league over his career and now he could end up on the move once his legal issues are resolved.