NFLPA Demands Peterson Reinstatement

8:48am: Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that the NFLPA is prepared to file a grievance if the league has not ruled on Peterson’s status by Tuesday of this week, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that, although Peterson could face as much as a six-game ban, he expects a compromise to be reached that would allow Peterson to return in December. However, Rapoport does not sound as convinced as Mortensen and Schefter that the Vikings’ brass is fairly united in its desire to have Peterson back immediately. Rapoport tweets that an “internal battle” is brewing in that regard.

8:24am: The NFL Players Association demanded immediate reinstatement of Adrian Peterson via a letter it sent to the league on Friday, write ESPN’s Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter. The NFLPA is basing its demands on the language contained within the agreement that placed Peterson on the Commissioner-Exempt list.

According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the agreement, which was signed by NFLPA general counsel Tom DePaso and NFL general counsel Jeff Pash, states:

“The player agrees that, effective as of yesterday (September 17, 2014), he is placed on the Commissioner-Exempt list with full pay until the criminal charges currently pending against him are adjudicated. No discipline will be processed or imposed against the player, by the Club or the League, until after the pending criminal charges are adjudicated.”

That statement certainly contains no definitive indication that the NFL intended to reinstate Peterson immediately upon resolution of his criminal case, but Florio believes that the NFLPA is correct in that the agreement clearly implies Peterson would be eligible to play as soon as the charges against him were adjudicated.

That implication is perhaps not quite as strong as Florio and the NFLPA would suggest, but another argument that the NFLPA has advanced may carry a little more weight. As Mortensen and Schefter write, the union claims that Peterson’s personal conduct review should be no different than the review of any other player’s case, and that Peterson should be eligible to play immediately until the league is finished with its review under the personal conduct policy and determines whether any disciplinary action should be imposed. Mortensen and Schefter point out that such an approach “has been accepted and has precedent.”

Mortensen and Schefter go on to say that, if and when Peterson is reinstated, most of the Vikings’ front office, coaches, and players want him on the team.

View Comments (0)