Although it will not come as much of a surprise given earlier reports that Adrian Peterson is not likely to return to action until the 2015 season, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that, even if Peterson is cleared of the felony child abuse charge that he is currently facing, the league could still impose a suspension without pay.
As Mortensen writes, “One area of consensus that was reaffirmed in last week’s league meetings is that violation of workplace rules and personal conduct should not require a conviction,” and “Any facts established in a legal proceeding can be found as a personal conduct violation regardless of the legal outcome.”
This is not to mention, of course, the pending motion for revocation of bond that was filed by Montgomery County prosecutors in response to Peterson’s admission that he smoked marijuana in violation of his bond conditions. Peterson is currently on the league’s exempt/commissioner’s permission list and is being paid his full $11.75MM salary.