The Minnesota Vikings expect Adrian Peterson back this offseason in camp workouts, but after the running back took to Twitter to rant about his contract, there is a chance a holdout could happen if he wants a new deal over a trade going down and if he stays away, Mike Zimmer likely will start Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata in the offense for quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
Peterson went on a Twitter rant last week about his contract and his agent likely wants more guaranteed money moving forward for the running back. Peterson is getting paid a nice salary, but reports have him looking to get the 2016 part of his contract guaranteed moving forward. According to Pro Football Talk, head coach Mike Zimmer said that he has an "indication" of when Peterson will report to workouts and said previously that Peterson will play for the Vikings or no one.
PFT writes that Peterson could miss out on a $250,000 workout bonus after missing part of OTA workouts and there is a chance he could come to the sessions ahead of mandatory minicamp. The team can fine Peterson if he misses out on the mandatory camp and Peterson said on Twitter he wants the team to "honor" his contract. The $12.75 million he is making this season is not the main issue, but reports say he wants the $14.75 million next season guaranteed, as right now it is not.
The Vikings and Peterson appear to be sticking together for the 2015 season over a trade, as the team has basically drawn a line in the sand and will have him play there or for no one at all. A team like the Dallas Cowboys could be interested, but right now it looks like no deal is going down. Zimmer said that he expects the running back to be in offseason workouts this spring along with backups Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata on the depth chart for Teddy Bridgewater.
Peterson has not participated in any offseason workouts for the Vikings yet this year, but all signs point to Peterson being back in Minnesota this season. According to Pro Football Talk, head coach Zimmer said that he has an "indication" of when Peterson would show up, but he did not get into any specifics. Zimmer said earlier in the offseason that he did not expect Peterson to be disgruntled once he came into camp and that he would resume his role as the feature back in the offense.
Peterson was upset with how he was pushed to the exempt list last season and that is likely the main reason for any bad feelings he has towards the team. Zimmer sounded confident about Peterson coming for offseason workouts and it's likely he was hinting that Peterson would be in mandatory minicamp and not the voluntary portion.
The Vikings are expecting Bridgewater to be even better this season and while he didn't put up crazy numbers, he showed that he can handle being a starting quarterback in the NFL. Peterson will have to get used to playing with a shotgun quarterback and any time he misses in the offseason could affect how the offense develops early in the season.
