Adrian Peterson said "of course" when asked if he wants to remain in Minnesota. Could the Vikings be on the same page?
Mark Wilf, the team's owner and president, said Wednesday that the Vikings would love to have Peterson back in 2015 if he takes care of his issues with the NFL, according to ESPN's Ben Goessling.
The NFL suspended Peterson on Nov. 18 stemming from a no contest plea on what the league called "an incident of abusive discipline" toward his 4-year-old son. Because the appeal was denied, Peterson is not set for reinstatement prior to April 15. The running back's lawyers are arguing that Peterson should be reinstated before that date.
Peterson was present in a Minneapolis courtroom last Friday as officials from the NFL and the NFL Players Association made their arguments in front of U.S. District Judge David Doty. Suing on Peterson's behalf, the NFLPA is requesting that Doty overturn the suspension, which was upheld in December by third-party arbitrator Harold Henderson.
Wilf says the Vikings would love Peterson back, but the issue may not be as simple as reinstatement. Peterson is scheduled to earn a base salary of $12.75 million in 2015 and will count a whopping $15.4 million against the salary cap. Both those figures are -- by far -- the highest for a running back in the NFL.
The two sides could quickly find themselves at odds if the Vikings ask Peterson to re-work his deal. Peterson previously told ESPN he does not feel he should take a pay cut next season.
If Peterson and the Vikings do part ways, A.P. instantly becomes the most intriguing free agent since Peyton Manning hit the open market in 2011.
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