Adrian Peterson is running away with the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year award, and the quarter-million dollar bonus that would come along with it.
Written into the contract Peterson signed last summer is a $250,000 rookie of the year bonus, which, if his current performance continues, would be a formality. Peterson leads the league with 607 rushing yards.
The bonus almost would match the $285,000 the Vikings are paying Peterson in base salary this season -– one of the best bargains in the league. Of course, Minnesota also handed Peterson $17 million in guaranteed money, and it did dangle other incentives in front of the running back.
If Peterson wins a Most Valuable Player award, it's another $250,000. And if he runs for 20 touchdowns in a season -– so far, Peterson has four -– he would cash in on a $1 million incentive.
So these, then, truly are Peterson's runs for the money.
Insult to injury
One of the primary reasons Peterson slipped to No. 7 in last year's draft -– and some still maintain there's no way he should have gotten past the top two picks -- is because of an injury he suffered last season at Oklahoma.
Almost exactly one year ago, after reeling off a 53-yard touchdown run againt Iowa State, Peterson ran into the end zone untouched, flipped and accidentally broke his collarbone.
The flip was almost identical to the one Jacksonville running back Maurice Jones-Drew performed during Sunday's win over the Houston Texans. Jones-Drew -– and every other running back at every level of the game -– needs to remember what happened to Peterson last season.
A simple celebratory flip cost Peterson his season, spots in the draft and money in his pocket. Once he was injured, NFL scouts began to question his durability, which he never had an issue with up until that time.
Now, Peterson's approach is entirely different. Whenever he scores a touchdown –- and there were three of them in Sunday's win over the Chicago Bears -– Peterson flips the ball to an official in a sportsmanlike and mature way.
Jones-Drew and other backs need to pay more attention to Peterson's immense talents and wise decisions.
Trade talk
Now that Tuesday's trade deadline has passed, it's time to peek ahead to the off-season, when the trade activity will increase.
Two quarterbacks expected to be dangled in trade discussions are the New York Jets' Chad Pennington and Buffalo's J.P. Losman.
Pennington is scheduled to make $4.8 million in base salary next season, and it's questionable if the Jets will be willing to pay him that money when he could be benched before the season is through.
Losman is scheduled to make $5 million in base salary next season and Buffalo already has turned the page on him and begun to move on to its future without him. The decision to go with rookie quarterback Trent Edwards now is the ultimate signal that Losman and his base salary will not fit into Western New York next season.
Teams that could be in the market for quarterbacks include the Chicago Bears, Carolina Panthers and Minnesota Vikings.
Yet assuming Dallas signs Tony Romo or slaps him with the exclusive franchise tag, the most coveted quarterback available this off-season very well could be Cleveland's Derek Anderson, who is scheduled to become a restricted free agent.
This season, Anderson has completed almost 55 percent of his passes, 14 of which have gone for touchdowns and another eight for interceptions.
Anderson has minimized the sacks he has taken, which means he is making good decisions on the field for one of the highest-scoring teams in the league. Twice this season, Anderson has led the Browns during games in which they've scored at least 40 points.
Dolphin defections
At this time last year, the Dolphins' wide receivers included Wes Welker, Chris Chambers and Marty Booker.
Today, Welker is in New England, Chambers is in San Diego, and the speculation begins as to where Booker will be next season because there is a question about whether it will be Miami.
Booker is scheduled to make $4.3 million in base salary next season and the Dolphins already have demonstrated they are hesitant to pay their veteran incumbent receivers.
Plus, any time a team loses as much as Miami has this season, a plethora of changes are sure to follow the next season.
Extra points
» New England has some notable players on the Physically Unable to Perform list –- defensive lineman Richard Seymour and wide receiver Troy Brown. But the first Patriot to return to practice from the PUP was last year's second-round draft pick, wide receiver Chad Jackson, who practiced Wednesday for the first time this season.
» Tampa Bay wound up paying a minimal price to upgrade its rushing attack. It sent a sixth-round pick in 2008 and a conditional seventh-round pick in 2009 to Kansas City for Bennett, who the Buccaneers acquired to help upgrade their battered backfield.
