Adrian Peterson is 10 years into his NFL career and is already a legend -- one of the best of all time. His 11,747 rushing yards are already the 16th-most in NFL history, while his 97 touchdowns rank 10th, and his 95.5 yards per game rank fourth.
Peterson is 31 years old now, though, so he's far closer to the end of his career than he is to the beginning. Still, Peterson said in an appearance on ESPN's "First Take" that he has "five good years" left in his career.
Whether he has five years left or just one, it's entirely possible that the remainder of Peterson's career will not be played in Minnesota.
He only has one year remaining on his current contract, and it's set to count for $18 million against the Vikings' cap. Even if he were still at his peak, an $18 million cap hit for a running back would likely be too onerous for the Vikings. And after a season in which he suffered another serious knee injury and carried the ball only 37 times for a grand total of 72 yards, it's safe to say he's no longer at his peak.
It makes far more sense for the Vikings to ask Peterson to take a pay cut, or else cut ties entirely. If the latter does happen, Peterson told "First Take" that he has thought about the Giants, Buccaneers, and Texans as teams that might make sense for his services -- citing a place where his family would be happy, a good defense, an attractive offensive system, and the chance to contend for a championship as his criteria for a new team.
The Texans flat-out don't make sense. They just paid Lamar Miller a bunch of money last offseason. It's extremely unlikely they'd go pay Peterson now.
In Tampa, Jacquizz Rodgers is a free agent and Doug Martin is seeking help for substance-related issues. The Bucs have a good defense, an up-and-coming quarterback in Jameis Winston (though pairing Peterson and Winston, who have both had abuse-related off-field concerns, would raise questions about the Bucs' commitment to organizational discipline), and a respected play-caller in coach Dirk Koetter.
The Giants certainly need help on the ground, and Peterson could make sense in a tandem with rookie Paul Perkins. That'd take a bunch of the pressure off Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. to create everything for the New York offense. The Giants would still need help on the offensive line, but at least they'd have some explosion back there.
All of this is a little premature, as Peterson is still on the Vikinngs' roster, but it does seem fairly likely that he'll be looking for a new team this offseason, so it's worth knowing which landing spots Peterson has his eye on.
