South Notes: Saints, Peterson, Colts

The Saints should take it easy with prized offseason acquisition Adrian Peterson, one league executive tells ESPN.com’s Vaughn McClure.

“You don’t want to run that guy out there for 16 games,” the executive said. “Then you risk him getting hurt again.”

Even at the age of 32, Peterson still has the ability to break off big runs. However, he might not have the durability to withstand a full season. The Saints best bet, McClure argues, would be to roll him out in the team’s biggest games, including the season opener against his former team and major NFC South clashes. With the talented Mark Ingram at the helm plus third round pick Alvin Kamara and pass-catching specialist Travaris Cadet, that’s a gameplan that just might work for New Orleans.

Here’s more from the South divisions:

• The Saints were planning to replace Zach Strief for several seasons. Now, he’s one of the Saints’ best offensive linemen and one of the best right tackles in the league, Larry Holder of The Times-Picayune writes. The Saints selected Andrus Peat with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2015 draft to eventually take Strief’s job, but he now finds himself at left guard. There were times when the 33-year-old (34 in September) could have been squeezed out of New Orleans, but he’s now a pillar for the unit. This offseason, the Saints rewarded Strief with a pay bump.
• The Colts are focused on improving their turnover margin stat in 2017, and that influenced some of the team’s moves this offseason, Kevin Bowen of Colts.com writes. The Colts selected Ohio State safety Malik Hooker at No. 15 overall and shifted Darius Butler to safety with the hope that they can get more takeaways. On the other side of the ball, they’re hoping that Andrew Luck‘s smart decision making will help to limit turnovers.
• Anquan Boldin could be looking to play near his home in Florida, but the Buccaneers and Jaguars seem pretty well set at wide receiver.