It's time... cut Adrian Peterson.

[GhostOfPoverty]

I think it's time for the Vikings to finally part ways with AP. Excuses aside, his production has clearly fallen off significantly from his 2012 MVP season. I'm also tired of how he's never been able to develop any aspects of his game aside from being a pure rusher - being weak in both pass protection, receiving, and being fairly useless rushing out of the shotgun formation when asked too. As great of a rusher as he was in his prime (among the GOAT in pure rushing), the one trick pony stuff is getting old, and with the decline in his abilities, doesn't make up for him being so one-dimensional anymore.

Without getting into the details much, the other bs drama surrounding him the past few years is getting old - The child abuse scandal, trying to whine his way out of MN to Dallas, never owning up to his mistakes and constantly making excuses for his poor life choices. To top it all off, now he's already openly talking about places he'd "be interested in playing" other than Minnesota next season - Vikings' Adrian Peterson says he can play five more NFL seasons


An era is over in Vikings football. He has become a complete disgrace to the franchise. I say they just cut him instead of trying to negotiate him into a reasonable new contract. Let him ride that birthday party camel of his (anyone else remember that stupid story about him yucking it up during his suspension year when he should have been trying his best to keep a classy profile?) all the way out of MN to whatever desperate team is willing to put up with his bs on top of his declining play.

 

[Nosferatu]

This is crazy, you need to delete the first of the three teams you have as your favorites as you are clearly not a Vikings fan. AD is top 5 running back of all time and if he agrees to play for less than a kings ransom he absolutely needs to be brought back and hopefully retire as a Viking!

 

[GhostOfPoverty]

This is crazy, you need to delete the first of the three teams you have as your favorites as you are clearly not a Vikings fan. AD is top 5 running back of all time and if he agrees to play for less than a kings ransom he absolutely needs to be brought back and hopefully retire as a Viking!

I'm not saying he isn't an all-time great rusher, in fact I made that pretty clear that I acknowledged that in my post. I was simply pointing out some issues I have with him, namely his off-field issues, being a one-trick pony for the most part (albeit being formerly AMAZING at that trick - pure rushing ability), and his multiple attempts to whine his way out of town at this point. In terms of talent, he can be compared the likes of Moss/Garnett (though I don't believe he is quite at either of those guys' level in their respective positions/sports), but the off-field issues and whining about being in Minnesota are starting to annoy the crap out of me.

Speaking strictly in terms of what value he has to this team - it's pretty clear that he doesn't have much time left to play at a high level in the NFL. He's had multiple season ending injuries now, and was showing many signs of decline prior to this year's injury. That decline in his rushing skills is making it difficult for the team to work around his other weaknesses (receiving, pass blocking, running in the shotgun formation, fumbling a lot) while still paying him much. I definitely wouldn't want him brought back at anything beyond average-tier RB money at this point when the team has other far more pressing needs besides keeping an aging vet on the team. Besides that, we've been trying this AP formula for like 10 years now, and it just hasn't been working... plus if he gets hurt, the entire offense collapses around him immediately due to always being so built upon his presence. I'm ready for them to go another route.

If having this opinion makes me "not a true Minnesota sports fan", then whatever, I guess. That response to what I've said seems pretty homerish to me. It's not like I said he was overrated his entire career or never achieved some significant successes for the franchise. Being willing to acknowledge that a player's baggage is no longer outweighed by the positive things they contribute to the team doesn't make someone any "less of a fan". But whatever.

 

[27mtrcougar]

Only way I would consider bringing him back is if he would do a 1 year 5m deal. That would still pay him like a top 10 RB. I Cant imagine he will get more then that on the market. This is a great draft for RB's too. Should be able to get a good RB in the 3rd or 4th rd. So the Vikes in my opinion are better off saving 18m and letting him go. Using that money on more important positions like the OL.

 

[PnkPanther]

Agreed. Time to move on

 

[GhostOfPoverty]

It appears that he's definitely done in Minnesota now, baring any unlikely changes in the situation.

Also, I would not call him a top 5 RB of all time. I'd take Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Jim Brown, Marshall Falk, and LaDanian Tomlinson all over him for sure, making him 6th best absolute tops. There are arguments for placing several others above AP as well. Like I have said in several other posts about him, while he might very well have been a top 5 all-time talent as a *pure rusher*, he had too many other flaws to call him a top 5 all-time RB all aspects of the game considered. Useless in the passing game both in terms of blocking and receiving, can't run out of the shotgun. He also always had a significant fumbling problem, including some terrible ones in the biggest games of his career (NFC Championship game in 2009, the home playoff game against Seattle in 2015).