The Minnesota Vikings are dealing with a tough situation with Adrian Peterson and in the future a trade to the Dallas Cowboys could be an option after they expressed interest in AP before his legal issues, while the Vikings are heading into Week 6 with Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon as the best fantasy football replacements for Peterson, while Teddy Bridgewater is expected to start.
The Vikings are in a tough situation with Peterson and that won't be resolved for some time with all his legal issues, but clearly the team is going to have to make a decision. According to ESPN.com, the Vikings are not sure if Peterson will be with the team in the future and a trade or his release could be an option down the line. Right now the team is concentrating on the field and fantasy owners should look at Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon as replacement options for Peterson in the offense.
Teddy Bridgewater is coming back after a long week after the Vikings played Thursday and he could be in the starting lineup after missing the game in Week 5 with an ankle injury. According to Pro Football Talk, Bridgewater said that he is all healed up and should be ready to go for the game on Sunday against the Detroit Lions. Bridgewater looked good in his first two games for the Vikings and they feel they have a quarterback of the future now after drafting him in the first round.
Asiata has been the better option for fantasy owners this season after Peterson was put on the exempt list, as he has been getting starts for AP. Jerick McKinnon had one big game, but Asiata is getting the bulk of the carries. Asiata has 231 yards this season and three touchdowns and McKinnon comes in with 166 yards and eight catches for 53 yards. McKinnon also put up 135 yards in one game in Week 4.
Peterson is dealing with more issues, as he reportedly admitted to a drug tester while out on bond that he smoked weed and now his bond could get increased or he could be arrested. Either way, as Ben Goessling writes at ESPN.com, it is looking like Peterson's future with the team is a major question and it's likely that the two sides separate once this is all over. Mike Freeman from Bleacher Report wrote after the draft that a split could be coming, but that was way before all this came out to the public.
What Freeman wrote was a very logical argument, saying that the Vikings likely would look to trade or release Peterson at some point over the next two years. Peterson is getting older, his cap hits are getting bigger and the RB position is getting devalued, all of which likely will lead to the team making a move at some point and now the arrest has added to that. Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys have been called an option because of the OTL news report from earlier in the summer that had Peterson and Jones interested in getting together. Obviously that all came before his child abuse allegations, so there is a good chance that Jones could step away from that move.
