Even though Adrian Peterson's agent previously shared that his client wants out of Minnesota, the Vikings are in no rush in letting him go. The Detroit Lions are reportedly interested in acquiring the running back if the team decides to release him.
1500ESPN reported that the Vikings expect Peterson to be in their lineup, and their front office is open for a position that will reinforce their backfield. There is only one month remaining before the NFL Draft and the Vikings stated that they expect Peterson to honor his contract. The Vikings will begin practicing on April 20 and coach Mike Zimmer stated that he wished to see Peterson join them.
Peterson has three more years to play with the Vikings, valued at $45 million in unguaranteed money. Although running backs do not peg a lot of cash in the NFL at present, Peterson may have a lot of value when draft-day trading arrives.
The Vikings are reportedly interested in Jay Jayai of Boise State, David Cobb of Minnesota and John Crockett of North Dakota State. Vikings' interest in these running backs, despite having Peterson, Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon in their roster, may be indicative that they are keeping their options open as far as the troubled Peterson is concerned.
Recently, Minnesota signed running back/return man DuJuan Harris. The Vikings now have seven running backs, including Joe Banyard, Henry Josey and Dominique Williams. If the Vikings acquire another running back on draft day, Peterson might become dispensable.
They can also take Peterson's present contract and have $15.7 million salary cap space to work with for the 2015 NFL season.
On the other hand, there are talks that the Detroit Lions are interested in acquiring Peterson, since they need to beef up their backfield. However, Sports World Report cited that Peterson and Matte Forte may be too expensive for them. Only the Vikings and Chicago Bears are currently in the position to afford the quality running backs. The Lions already invested much in Stafford and Johnson, so they will have to settle for Bell and Riddick and hope that they can draft a quality rookie to improve their offense.
More likely, the Lions will be getting help in the running back position from the draft and nowhere else, based on a report by Tulsa World. Other teams are also battling to get Todd Gurley, Melvin Gordon and TJ Yeldon, so it will be difficult for the Lions to make an offer that will convince any of them to play in Detroit instead.