Adrian Peterson‘s brief tenure with the Cardinals has come to an end. The team cut the veteran running back today, reports Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com. We learned yesterday that the organization was planning to move on from Peterson. As our own Zach Links pointed out, the move allows the team to avoid a $750K bonus that was due on Friday.
Peterson could conceivably return to the Cardinals at a cheaper rate than his scheduled 2018 $2.881MM cap charge. The Patriots, Seahawks, and Giants expressed interest in the running back before he joined the Saints last offseason, and the Ravens had considered a trade for Peterson before he was dealt to the Cardinals. Peterson is set to turn 33 at the end of the month, and following a relatively underwhelming season, it’s uncertain if there will be as many suitors this time around.
The running back struggled during his brief stint with the Saints, but he saw a bit more success after joining Arizona. In six starts, Peterson ran for 448 yards and two touchdowns on 129 carries (3.5 yards per carry). While these numbers are relatively respectable, the advanced numbers indicate that the future Hall of Famer may be running out of steam. Football Outsiders ranked Peterson 46th among 47 tailbacks in both DYAR and DVOA, metrics which measure overall and per-play value.
After releasing Peterson, the Cardinals are now rostering five backup options to David Johnson, including Elijhaa Penny, D.J. Foster, T.J. Logan, Bronson Hill, and Darius Victor.
Good timing