The Minnesota Vikings may look at an Adrian Peterson trade after this season once the running back has his legal issues cleared up and the Dallas Cowboys could be interested, as DeMarco Murray is due for a major contract extension and with Jerick McKinnon stepping in for AP with the Vikings, the team may look at getting rid of him after all the negative publicity.
Peterson is awaiting trial for child abuse charges and he has been placed on the exempt list by the Vikings, which basically is the NFL version of paid leave. Trade speculation with Peterson first popped up last year while the Vikings were having a terrible season and the narrative came up again over the summer when an Outside the Lines story on Jerry Jones was published. In that story, ESPN.com reported on a phone call between Jones and Peterson that had both sides expressing their interest in one day coming together on the Cowboys.
Afterwards the phone call was dismissed as just chatter, but along with the previous trade rumors and new reports about the Vikings and their future plans, the Cowboys could be an option. After Peterson was placed on the exempt list and more news came out about child abuse allegations, ESPN.com writer Chris Mortensen reported that the Vikings were not looking to have Peterson in their future plans and that a trade or his outright release could be coming over the next year. The emergence of Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon has helped in that decision making process, as Mortensen wrote that both players have gotten high marks from offensive coordinator Norv Turner.
Peterson has a big contract at seven-years, $96 million after adding in his extension and he is signed through the 2018 season. Peterson will obviously be hard to move, but the team may look at a trade since his cap hit coming up is over $15 million. The Vikings will wait to see how the legal issues play out, but things will be easier once this year is over if they want to cut him, as the dead money is cut in half from five to $2.4 million on his deal. The Vikings may not end up making a move, but they surely will consider one after the way things have gone this season.
Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon have taken over for Peterson and McKinnon has emerged as the best option after Adrian Peterson was placed on the exempt list, as he has been playing better than Asiata in recent weeks. McKinnon had another 100 yard game two weeks ago and that was his second this season and he did it against a Bills team that had not given up triple digits to any running back this year.
McKinnon was one of the draft picks used after the team traded Percy Harvin and it has paid off well so far. The Minnesota Vikings are coming into Week 9 with a number of fantasy football starter options and Teddy Bridgewater, Matt Asiata, McKinnon and Cordarrelle Patterson all could be good picks to use against the Redskins on Sunday, as Adrian Peterson remains out and those players all have the chance to step up for the Vikes.
