The Minnesota Vikings may look at an Adrian Peterson trade in the future along with the release of the star RB and a team like the Dallas Cowboys could be an option after Jerry Jones made his interest in AP known and as that goes on, fantasy football owners are looking at Matt Asiata, Jerick McKinnon, Teddy Bridgewater and Cordarrelle Patterson as start options for Week 6 of the season.
According to ESPN.com, the Vikings are not looking at Peterson as being part of the team plans for the future and that could lead to a trade or his release one all his legal matters are resolved. The team has built their roster around Peterson over the past few years, but with him getting older and now his status up in the air for the rest of the season, the team is planning for the future and it looks like Peterson will not be a part of it. As his skills diminish over the next few years, his salary cap number will only rise and now that he is not even playing, the Vikings realize they have to make a move at some point.
Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon have been solid coming in for Peterson, but long term the team needs a better option. Fantasy football owners have been pleased with the way those two have played so far, with Asiata getting the starts for Peterson and McKinnon serving as the backup. The Vikings want to get younger and they have already done that with Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback and now they may do the same at the running back position.
Bridgewater was injured for the Thursday night game against the Packers after suffering an ankle injury against the Falcons, but he is expected to play in Week 6. The Vikings and fantasy owners are looking for him to start, as Christian Ponder was terrible last week and Bridgewater is a major upgrade over him. Fantasy owners want Bridgewater to start, as he affects how Cordarrelle Patterson and Greg Jennings as well as other players perform on offense.
Peterson also has other issues coming up now with his foundation and he clearly has a ton going on off of the field that needs to get resolved before he gets back on it. The Vikings feel that they have the QB of the future now with Bridgewater, as he has proven to be accurate and a smart player in limited time and has been a major upgrade over Ponder. Bridgewater should be the long term option for the Vikings and they made a smart move trading back into the first round to get him in the draft, as they now have that fifth year on him and that makes him more valuable to the team.
Peterson is one of the best running backs of all time and that is what makes all of this so tough for the Vikings. He is the star and franchise player of the team and now they may have to find a way to move along from him. Peterson is from Texas and the interest from the Cowboys was reported in a story from OTL earlier this summer that had Jones and AP on the phone talking about his future. Peterson said that he could see himself finishing his career in Dallas, while Jerry would love to bring another star to the Cowboys.
