Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Minnesota Vikings
New York Giants
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Adrian Peterson‘s season is over, but his career is not. The veteran running back says that he’ll be back on the field in 2018. 
“The good news is my neck injury doesn’t require surgery, but I’m told by Dr. Robert Watkins that the best thing for me is just more rest than the length of the season. Obviously, I’m disappointed about going on IR when my body is still able to produce but I look forward to returning completely healthy for another season in 2018,” Peterson said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity that the Arizona Cardinals have given me to show that I can still contribute on an NFL team.”
Peterson averaged just 3.5 yards per carry for the Cardinals, but he did show flashes of his old self on a couple of occasions. In his Cards debut, Peterson ran for 134 yards and two touchdowns off of 26 carries. A couple of weeks later, he racked up 159 rushing yards against the Niners.
Peterson remains under contract for one more season, but the Cardinals could instead release him and save $3.5MM against the cap. With David Johnson returning, the Cardinals will have to ask themselves whether it’s worthwhile to pay Peterson that much to serve as a backup. Even if they like the idea of Peterson as an insurance policy, it’s not a given that the veteran will be willing to come off of the bench.
The future Hall of Famer turns 33 in March.
The Cardinals have placed veteran running back Adrian Peterson on injured reserve, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Peterson is dealing with a neck injury, but won’t require surgery, tweets Tom Pelissero of NFL.com.
Peterson hadn’t played since Week 12, and just yesterday Arizona head coach Bruce Arians indicated he “had no idea” if Peterson would play again this season. The Cardinals’ decision-makers evidently decided that running Peterson out for the final three games of the year wasn’t worth the risk, especially given that the 6-7 club has virtually no chance of earning a postseason berth in a stacked NFC.
Arizona acquired Peterson from the Saints in early October, shipping a conditional 2018 sixth-round pick in exchange for the 32-year-old back. The exact parameters of that trade have yet to be reported, so it’s unclear exactly what kind of return the Saints will get for Peterson. But clearing his salary off their books was likely incentive enough for the deal, and allowed New Orleans to move on from an unwise two-year contract.
Upon hitting the desert, Peterson was immediately more involved in the Cards’ offense that he’d ever been with the Saints, and posted 134 yards on the ground and two touchdowns in his Arizona debut. He’s been up-and-down since that point, however, and topped 80 yards just once more in his final five games of the 2017 campaign. In three of those contests, Peterson didn’t even manage two yards per carry.
Peterson is under contract in 2018 with a cost of $3.5MM attached, but it’s not readily apparent as to whether general manager Steve Keim & Co. have any intention of retaining Peterson. The Cardinals will see the return of dynamic third-year pro David Johnson in 2018, meaning Peterson would be relegated to backup duty. Arizona would clear Peterson’s entire cap charge by cutting ties.
Apparently, Robert Griffin III turned down two separate NFL offers in 2017. In an appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter, Griffin said that he rejected chances to join both the Cardinals and Ravens in the offseason. 
“In Arizona, the reason it wasn’t a good fit because they had already — Carson [Palmer] was there, I was willing to come in and learn behind an experienced veteran quarterback who’s done a lot of great things,” Griffin said (transcript via CBSSports.com). “They had the backup in [Drew] Stanton, they had also brought in Blaine Gabbert. Nobody lets four quarterbacks get practice time. That was the issue. It wasn’t the coach — [Bruce Arians] is a great coach, he’s a quarterback whisperer. And it’s a stable franchise.”
Griffin also explained why he passed on an opportunity to join the Ravens.
“Baltimore was just, they offered me a contract right before the first preseason game, to start against the Redskins,” RG3 said. “Selfishly I could have taken that, to go play against them, but I knew I wouldn’t have been ready with that offense, with those guys, to put my best foot forward.”
In each instance, Griffin said that he knew the risk – if he turned down the offer, he might not get another. Surprisingly, Griffin says that he hasn’t given up on the possibility that a playoff team could sign him this year. That seems pretty unlikely to us, however, particularly since the Eagles have shown no interest in signing a Carson Wentz replacement.
Today’s practice squad updates:
Arizona Cardinals
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Los Angeles Rams
Oakland Raiders
Seattle Seahawks
Tennessee Titans
The Cardinals have initiated extension discussions with quarterback Blaine Gabbert, according to Mike Jurecki of 98.7 FM (Twitter link).
Arizona inked Gabbert, the 10th overall selection in the 2010 draft, to a one-year, minimum salary benefit this offseason, and given that he began the season as the club’s third quarterback behind Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton, the Cardinals likely didn’t envision Gabbert becoming their starter this year. But injuries to both Palmer and Stanton have forced Arizona to insert Gabbert into the starting lineup, and head coach Bruce Arians hasn’t dismissed the idea of using Gabbert as a starter in 2018.
Whether or not the Cardinals need Gabbert next season will likely hinge on Palmer’s retirement decision: the veteran signal-caller will turn 38 years old later this month, and has flirted with retirement in the past. If he returns in 2018, Palmer will almost certainly be Arizona’s starter, but if he hangs up his cleats, the Cards could use Gabbert as a low-cost insurance policy.
While Gabbert has clearly never lived up to his draft billing, he’s improved during his seven-year career. Among the 38 quarterbacks with at least 130 pass attempts in 2017, Gabbert ranks 22nd in yards per attempt, 26th in completion percentage, 28th in quarterback rating, and 31st in adjusted net yards per attempt.
The Cardinals have reinforced the offensive line in the wake of Jared Veldheer‘s season-ending injury. The team announced the signing of Khalif Barnes on Tuesday. 
Barnes, 35, was signed and released multiple times by the Saints over the course of the 2016 season, but he never appeared in a game for them. This offseason, he was among the team’s final cuts in early September. Now in Arizona, the 35-year-old will hope to see his first regular season action since January 3, 2016.
The former second-round pick is well past his prime, but he does offer experience at both tackle positions as well as guard. That versatility could come in handy as interior lineman Earl Watford is also on IR. Barnes has 117 career starts to his credit, but how, where, and when the Cardinals use him remains to be seen.