Adrian Peterson‘s ongoing saga in between NFL snaps continued today, with the latest development wedging the two sides further apart. The running back’s agent, Ben Dogra, declined a meeting request from Vikings GM Rick Spielman, Yahoo! Sports’ Charles Robinson reported.
Spielman sought a dinner summit with Dogra at next week’s owners’ meetings. Despite reports the Vikings do not intend to release their star runner leaving the door open for a potential reunion, Peterson does not appear to want to increase the dialogue. The former top-10 pick, however, did have dinner with owners Mark and Zygi Wilf earlier this month, but sources told Robinson he is unhappy in Minnesota.
The Cardinals are considering offering a second-round pick for Peterson, according to Robinson, and giving the disgruntled ball-carrier a new contract.
This latest chapter pushes the sides closer to an impasse. Peterson’s contract takes up a team-high $13MM+ of the Vikings’ 2015 cap with that number set to rise to $17MM in 2017, the final year of his current deal. Teams are not keen on allocating those kind of funds to running backs in 2015.
Peterson turns 30 tomorrow, but the ex-Oklahoma superstar essentially bypassed a year of punishment. He’s rushed for at least 10 touchdowns in each of his seven full seasons and averaged more than 4.5 yards per carry in all but one full season.
The Cardinals’ highest-paid running backs, Stepfan Taylor and Andre Ellington, are set to occupy barely $1.2MM of cap space between them. The team has just more than $9MM worth of room under its 2015 financial ceiling right now, according to OverTheCap.
The 26-year-old Ellington may be better suited for change-of-pace work at 199 pounds and the yards-per-rush disparity between the 2013 sixth-round pick’s two seasons, the first as a complement rusher and the second as Arizona’s primary carrier. Ellington averaged 5.5 yards per tote as a rookie but just 3.3 last year before going down with a season-ending sports hernia malady.
Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon remain the Vikings’ current contingency plans in the event of a Peterson exit.