NFC Notes: Rodgers, Peterson, Keenum, Seahawks

Adrian Peterson had one of the least productive seasons of his career in 2017, but the veteran running back believes he still has plenty left in the tank.

“At the end of the day, I know I can play,” he told Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter link). “If you watch football, as far as being an evaluator of talent, if a guy has something left in the tank… he was able to see (I) can still play the game. … I would want to play maybe four more years, four to five more years.’’

There were rumblings that the Cardinals would ultimately cut Peterson, but the 32-year-old doesn’t sound overly concerned about his status in 2018.

“I haven’t heard anything from the horse’s mouth but I heard the report as well,” he told Tomasson. “But it’s just a report for now If it’s (true) it was a great run for me and a great opportunity and it will be on to the next but hopefully that’s not the case.”

Peterson split last season between the Saints and Cardinals. After an underwhelming start in New Orleans, Peterson ultimately started six games for Arizona, compiling 448 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 129 carries.

Let’s take a look at some more notes from around the NFC…

  • While Aaron Rodgers made it clear that he wants to play into his 40s, he also told the Associated Press that it may require him to play for another team. The Packers quarterback cited the departure of Brett Favre, who bounced between the Jets and Vikings after more than a decade in Green Bay. “I think you have to be humble enough to realize if it could happen to Brett, it can happen to you,” Rodgers said.
  • The Vikings will have some tough choices to make at the quarterback position this offseason, but Case Keenum is hoping he’ll get another chance at the starting gig. The 29-year-old told 1500ESPN’s Mackey and Judd that he’d like to finish what he started in Minnesota.“We love Minnesota, we love it here, we love the season we had, we definitely feel like there’s some unfinished business with how things ended,” Keenum said (via Matthew Coller of 1500espn.com). “At the same time, we understand tough decisions have to be made and so we’ll see what happens.”
  • Mary Jo White will be leading the NFL’s investigation into Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, reports ESPN.com’s David Newton. Back in December, it was reported that the owner was under investigation for workplace misconduct. White had previously served as a federal prosecutor in New York City and as the Securities and Exchange Commission under President Obama.
  • The Seahawks have hired former Texans special teams coach Larry Izzo as their new assistant ST coach, reports Alex Marvez of the Sporting News. Izzo was the special teams coach in Houston for the past two years, but was fired last month after back-to-back dismal seasons. He’ll now work under Brian Schneider, who’s been in Seattle since 2010. Izzo, a former NFL linebacker and special teams maven in the AFC East, is replacing Heath Farwell, who took a similar role with the Panthers.

Dallas Robinson contributed to this post.

View Comments (8)