Here's why it's possible we've seen Adrian Peterson's final game with the Vikings

Surgery could mean the end of the line for AP in Minnesota

On Sunday, the world saw Adrian Peterson limping towards the locker room, through an area of fans, in the Vikings brand-new stadium. It might have been the last image Vikings fans will ever see of Peterson in purple.

On Wednesday, news broke that Peterson, arguably the franchise's greatest player, was going to have surgery on the torn meniscus he suffered against the Packers.

There are few humans capable of recovering like Peterson, but there is a reasonable timetable involving the word "months" on the table, with multiple reports pegging Peterson's return at 3-4 months. It could be worse: Josina Anderson of ESPN reports Peterson has a "bucket-handle tear" of the meniscus, which means he could be out the whole season. Mike Zimmer conceded as much on Wednesday afternoon.

It's currently late September, which means the most optimistic case for a Peterson return is Dec. 22 (three months from Thursday) with a realistic return of Jan. 21 (four months from Thursday).

The Vikings play their final regular-season game on Sunday, Jan. 1 at home against the Bears.

Assuming he needs four months to be ready and assuming the Vikings don't make the Super Bowl without him, we could have seen the final carry for Peterson with the Vikings.

He's one of the greatest running backs in the history of the NFL, but this injury is precisely why teams don't pay running backs past the age of 30 or 31.

Look at the last four years for Peterson:

Year	Age	Games	Carries	Yards/Carry	TD
2016	31	2	31	1.6	0
2015	30	16	327	4.5	11
2014*	29	1	21	3.6	0
2013	28	14	279	4.5	10

*Peterson was placed on the Commissioner's Exempt List for off-field issues.

Granted, he led the league in carries, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns in 2015, at the age of 30. But that's a lot of wear for a guy with one ACL tear already. Especially a guy who will be 32 years old this offseason and is owed a lot of money moving forward.

Specifically, Peterson has a $6 million roster bonus due on March 9, 2017 and a salary of $18 million for the 2017 season. If the Vikings cut him before the roster bonus is due (the third day of the league year), they wouldn't carry any dead money on the cap and would free up $18 million in cap space.

We've seen contractual issues between these two sides come to an amicable resolution -- which resulted in Peterson's current contract -- but it's hard to fathom the Vikings paying a 32-year-old running back coming off a second major knee injury $18 million in the coming season.

Unless Peterson is willing to take a pretty substantial paycut to remain with the only team he's ever played for, there is a very realistic chance he's played his last game with the Vikings.