Adrian Peterson - Pro Football Rumors

Latest On Injured Adrian Peterson

September 22nd, 2016 at 9:32am CST by Connor J. Byrne

THURSDAY, 9:32am: The Vikings announced “there were no additional injuries or issues noted in or surrounding the knee joint,” during Peterson’s surgical procedure.

WEDNESDAY, 4:44pm: Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is set for surgery to repair the torn meniscus he suffered in the Vikings’ 17-14 win over the Packers on Sunday, and there’s now question as to whether the 31-year-old also has a torn LCL. Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington of ESPN report that he does (via Twitter), while both Vikings officials and Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press have shot down that notion (Twitter links). Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that Peterson has a mild LCL sprain, one that won’t require surgery.

There’s already a chance Peterson’s meniscus issue will keep him out for the rest of the season, so an LCL tear would make a comeback all the more difficult. If Schefter and Darlington are wrong, it seems Peterson and the Vikings have dodged a potentially significant problem.

For however long Peterson is out, the Vikings will turn to Jerick McKinnon, Matt Asiata and the newly signed Ronnie Hillman at running back. Their track records pale in comparison to Peterson’s, of course, but he didn’t resemble his seven-time Pro Bowl self during the Vikings’ first two games. Peterson racked up 31 carries and amassed just 50 yards, good for an average of 1.6 per tote.

Despite Peterson’s lack of production and having to use two starting quarterbacks in as many games, defending NFC North champion Minnesota has begun 2016 with back-to-back victories. The team will head to Carolina this week to face the reigning NFC champion Panthers.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Adrian Peterson Potentially Done For Season?

September 21st, 2016 at 10:42am CST by Zachary Links

Adrian Peterson will go under the knife on Thursday to fix the tear in his meniscus, as Josina Anderson of ESPN.com tweets. The running back has what is known as a “bucket handle tear,” which means that he will require a more aggressive surgery option than initially planned. Anderson hears that means he’ll be out for a minimum of three-to-four months and as long as six months.

Peterson’s injury is devastating news for the Vikings, particularly after they went all-in by trading for Sam Bradford in the wake of Teddy Bridgewater‘s season-ending injury. With Peterson out, the Vikings will turn to Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata in the backfield. McKinnon has shown flashes of freaky athleticism, but he is not the most advanced blocker or pass catcher out there. It’s possible that the Vikings could look out-of-house for RB options, but they should have a well-balanced attack between McKinnon and Asiata.

Peterson, 31, missed the majority of the 2014 season but bounced back last year to run for 1,485 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also added 30 receptions for 222 yards.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Adrian Peterson Has Torn Meniscus

September 19th, 2016 at 1:58pm CST by Zachary Links

Vikings running back Adrian Peterson has a torn meniscus in his right knee, coach Mike Zimmer said in a radio interview (link via Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press). It’s not immediately clear how long Peterson could be sidelined for and Zimmer did not rule out that Peterson might be able to play on Sunday against the Panthers.

Peterson went down in the third quarter of Sunday’s 17-14 win over the rival Packers. The Vikings managed to win in their real U.S. Bank Stadium debut, but it was a bittersweet W after Peterson went down.

As Tomasson notes, a torn meniscus is not necessarily a season-ender. Chris Johnson claims to have played much of the 2013 season with a torn meniscus and he ran for 1,077 yards that season. Of course, after Peterson struggled through the first two games of the 2016 season, it’s fair to wonder how productive the 2012 MVP can be if he plays through the injury.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Latest On Adrian Peterson Appeal

August 7th, 2016 at 7:20pm CST by Ben Levine

Roger Goodell and the NFL have once again prevailed in appeals court. As Dave Campbell of the Associated Press writes, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled earlier this week that NFL arbitrator Harold Henderson “acted with his rights” when upholding the six-game suspension handed to Adrian Peterson in 2014. Last year, U.S. District Judge David Doty had said Henderson “overreached his authority” when handling the NFLPA’s original appeal.

Before we discuss what this means for the NFL and the players, let’s review the previous circumstances. Peterson was originally handed a six-game suspension by Goodell following news of child abuse, with the commissioner citing the NFL’s personal conduct policy (a policy that had been adjusted following the infamous Ray Rice video). However, the NFLPA argued the suspension couldn’t be applied retroactively, since the reported abuse took place three months before the new rule was enhanced. Doty agreed with the Players Association, but that decision was revered this week by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Peterson was originally put on paid-leave for the first nine weeks of the 2014 season, and he was subsequently suspended for the final six weeks. The NFL had originally collected half of Peterson’s pro-rated forfeited salary, but they initially held off on collecting the other half. As NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets, Peterson will now owe the NFL the equivalent of three game checks from the 2014 season (around $2MM). To be clear, Peterson will not miss additional time.

So what does this mean for the NFL? As Ben Volin of The Boston Globe writes, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is confirming Goodell’s “wide-ranging powers to punish players who violate the “integrity of the game.”” When coupled with the recent Tom Brady decision, Goodell’s “disciplinary powers” have been reinforced (while the union’s “bargaining power” has seemingly been weakened in regards to the next CBA).

The NFLPA released a “statement of resignation” (via Campbell):

“Our union pursues all claims because we believe in due process, fundamental fairness and in the spirit of collective bargaining agreements. While the NFLPA disagrees with the decision, we accept this loss,” the union said. “When negotiation or collective bargaining fails to resolve our differences, we will always fight and pursue every recourse for our players’ rights.”

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Contract Notes: A. Brown, Peterson, Gronk

July 31st, 2016 at 11:33am CST by Rory Parks

Steelers star wideout Antonio Brown has two years left on the five-year, $41MM deal he signed in January 2012, and Pittsburgh typically does not negotiate new deals with non-quarterbacks who have more than one year left on their contracts (although the club did give Brown himself that five-year pact after Brown’s second season in the league). The Steelers may be willing to make an exception to their usual standard operating procedure given how valuable Brown is to the team, and according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, they may have to.

Per Rapoport (Twitter links), Brown is currently monitoring DeAndre Hopkins‘ holdout in Houston, thereby implying that Brown may be willing to do the same thing in Pittsburgh. Rapoport adds that contract talks have moved much more slowly than Brown would like, and that the situation “bears watching.”

Now for some more contract notes on the league’s biggest stars:

Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports weighs in on the Brown dilemma, writing that contract talks are not just moving slowly, there have been no contract talks at all between Brown and the Steelers. La Canfora says he would be surprised if a deal for the kind of money Brown is seeking gets done until after this season.
Appearing on the Steelers Radio Network, Steelers GM Kevin Colbert discussed Brown’s contract situation. “We don’t renegotiate contracts with more than one year remaining with the exception of quarterbacks. Antonio’s under contract,” Colbert said (via ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Twitter). “He’s a great player. You can’t say enough good things about him. But he’s a professional. He respects the process, as do we. We’ll see where things end up.”
NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo tweets that Rob Gronkowski‘s agents, Drew and Jason Rosenhaus, are at Patriots‘ camp today. Garafolo’s sources indicate that they are working with New England on a new deal for the star tight end, but that nothing is imminent at the moment. Gronk, who signed a six-year, $54MM contract after the 2011 season, is under club control through 2019, his age-30 season, but he is significantly underpaid considering the going market rate for his position and his value to his team.
Adrian Peterson has two years left on his current contract, and as Chip Scoggins of The Star Tribune observes, the structure of Peterson’s deal will force the Vikings to take some sort of action after the 2016 season. Peterson is due a $6MM roster bonus in early March 2017 and would carry a gigantic $18MM figure if his contract is not addressed. No matter how good Peterson is, Scoggins writes that such a cap number would be untenable for a running back who will be 32 next season. Although the team is trying to build a more diverse offense for Teddy Bridgewater, Peterson is still likely to be among the league’s rushing leaders, but even if he is, Scoggins sees a restructure at season’s end as the most likely outcome.

NFC Notes: Cowboys, Cousins, Seahawks

July 1st, 2016 at 2:01pm CST by Ben Levine

Ronaldo McClain is only the latest Cowboys defender to be slapped with a suspension. Defensive end Demarcus Lawrence was handed a four-game suspension earlier this summer, and defensive end Randy Gregory will also be forced to sit our four games.

Cornerback Brandon Carr understands that it’s on the trio’s teammates to pick up the slack.

“Well, anytime you get a guy going down in your unit, you have to come together even stronger to make up for that slack,” Carr told Zig Fracassi and Phil Savage on SiriusXM Satellite Radio (via Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com). “But Rolando is a guy that’s made a lot of plays for us in the past two years, another dominant presence on the field. So we’re definitely going to miss that. But football’s a game of the next man up, it’s a game of inches. So it’s going to take for all of us to come to training camp focused and next man up, get him ready, get prepared to go out there to battle.”

Let’s check out some more notes from the NFC…

Mike Jones of the Washington Post wonders if the Redskins and Kirk Cousins will come to an agreement on an extension by the July 15th deadline. The writer notes that the two sides have made little progress, and while the team will make another push closer to training camp, there’s not much optimism that a deal will get done.
The Seahawks have generally held back from handing out extensions to players with more than a year remaining on their contract. However, Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times wonders whether the team should rethink that strategy when it comes to defensive lineman Michael Bennett.
ESPN.com’s Nathan Jahnke (Insider subscription required) runs through his list of the NFL’s 10 most overpaid veterans. Giants quarterback Eli Manning leads the list, with Vikings left tackle Matt Kalil, Packers linebacker Clay Matthews, Cowboys cornerback Brandon Carr, and Vikings running back Adrian Peterson also appearing on the list.

NFC North Notes: Vikes, AP, Lions, Megatron

June 21st, 2016 at 7:37pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

As he enters his age-31 season, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson has no concerns about his body holding up over the long haul, he told Ben Goessling of ESPN.com. Peterson isn’t sure how much longer he’ll play, though, because of some of the tedious aspects that accompany playing in the NFL.

“Training camp, going through the grind, OTAs and all that — that will definitely be the deciding factor,” he said, adding “it’s so repetitive that it’s more suited toward the young guys and getting them into the system. It gets kind of boring.”

Peterson went on to cite the success he had previously without partaking in training camp, stating, “Think about this: The 2012 season [after recovering from ACL surgery], I didn’t do any training camp. But I was over there on the side, working out. You get that extra month of working out? Come on, man. I would much rather not participate in training camp and work out, just to have more of an edge.”

That year happened to be the best of Peterson’s career, as he earned the NFL MVP award after rushing for 2,097 yards – the second-highest single-season total ever – and 12 touchdowns. Peterson wasn’t quite that effective last season, but he once again led the league in rushing (1,485 yards, to go with 11 scores) en route to garnering first-team All-Pro honors for the fifth time.

More from the NFC North, which the Peterson-led Vikes won last season:

When Bob Quinn took over as the Lions’ general manager in January, it was unclear whether he’d bring back head coach Jim Caldwell on the heels of a 7-9 season. After much deliberation, Quinn elected to go forward with Caldwell, who has helped Detroit to an 18-14 record and a playoff appearance in two years. Quinn told SiriusXM NFL Radio on Tuesday (via Justin Rogers of MLive.com) that retaining Caldwell “was the easiest and best decision I made,” citing the pair’s “great working relationship.”
Now-retired receiver and potential Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson was instrumental in the majority of the Lions’ 18 wins from 2014-15, and it stands to reason his departure will leave a significant void in the team’s offense. Not so, says quarterback Matthew Stafford. “Obviously we used to feature Calvin, and everybody kind of got theirs after that. It’s going to be, I think, tougher for defenses in a certain way in that they don’t know who we’re going to. There’s no guy to key in on,” he told SiriusXM on Tuesday (per Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com). To help replace Johnson, who exited with 88 catches, 1,214 yards and nine touchdowns in 2015, the Lions signed ex-Bengal Marvin Jones to a $40MM deal. He and Golden Tate are unquestionably the Lions’ top two wideouts. After them, the club has offseason pickups Jeremy Kerley, Andre Roberts and Andre Caldwell among those vying for roles, as Roster Resource shows. The door is also still open on Detroit adding free agent Anquan Boldin, who visited with the team earlier this month.
In case you missed it, the Bears and franchise wideout Alshon Jeffery are discussing a long-term contract.

Extra Points: Vegas, Eagles, Stafford, Peterson

May 21st, 2016 at 12:43pm CST by Ben Levine

Let’s check out some assorted notes from around the NFL on this Saturday afternoon…

Count Patriots owner Robert Kraft among those who would embraces a Las Vegas franchise. The executive told Jarrett Bell of USAToday.com that he’d support a Raiders move to Nevada, assuming the organization can’t secure a new stadium in Oakland.“I think it would be good for the NFL,” Kraft said. “I know Mark Davis has tried so hard in Oakland. If they won’t do it . . . I want to support him.”
Undrafted rookie running back Byron Marshall chose the Eagles for the opportunity to contribute right away, writes Jeff McLane of Philly.com. “The running back position was a little slim,” Marshall said. “And they were talking to me about being able to play [wide receiver] in the slot and a little bit at running back – to do what I did in college. I liked that role.”
An extension for Matthew Stafford could depend on the quarterback’s production this upcoming season, writes ESPN.com’s Michael Rothstein. If the Lions quarterback struggles, the writer wonders if general manager Bob Quinn would decide to “clean house.”
Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is expected to be in attendance for the start of OTAs, tweets Darren Wolfson. Of course, as the writer notes, the $250K bonus certainly provides some incentive.

NFC North Notes: Kuhn, Vikings, Lawson

April 17th, 2016 at 9:40pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Packers have discussed bringing back fullback John Kuhn but haven’t decided to keep their longtime backfield blocker in the fold as of yet, Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Kuhn’s agent, Kevin Gold, has talked with the Packers and other teams about the three-time Pro Bowl fullback, but Silverstein reports no decision is imminent on the eve of Green Bay’s start to its offseason program.

The 33-year-old Kuhn has played 156 games for the Packers, suiting up in green and gold for 10 of his 11 years in the league. Kuhn played ahead of 2015 sixth-rounder Aaron Ripkowski last season and made his third Pro Bowl. The Packers, who are also expected to sign Don Barclay on Monday, have $10.6MM in cap space currently.

A Division II product, Kuhn has been in this situation in recent years. Despite Kuhn being the fullback on the 2014 All-Pro first team, the Packers were able to re-sign him for the league minimum last April after agreeing to a similar one-year pact in advance of the ’14 season. Kuhn played in 23.4% of the offensive snaps last season, per Silverstein.

Here’s the latest coming out of the Packers’ top rivals’ camps.

This season will almost certainly be Chad Greenway‘s Vikings farewell tour, Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. The 33-year-old outside linebacker signed a one-year, $2.75MM deal (with $750K guaranteed) to remain in Minnesota for an 11th season recently. “I have sort of that direction that, yeah, I want to walk away a Minnesota Viking in sort of on my own terms,” Greenway told media Sunday, including Tomasson. “Few NFL players get to do that and have the opportunity to do that. This organization and my career has allowed me to do that and kind of be in the situation.” Greenway has started 140 regular-season and playoff games with the Vikings since being taken by the team in Round 1 of the 2006 draft. He remains the favorite to start alongside Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks this season.
Linval Joseph has nearly recovered fully from the turf toe that shelved the emerging defensive tackle late last season, Ben Goessling of ESPN.com tweets. Pro Football Focus’ best interior defender not named Aaron Donald or J.J. Watt, Joseph missed four Vikings games with the malady last season.
The Vikings do not expect Adrian Peterson to attend the start of voluntary portion of their offseason workouts Monday, Tomasson reports. Peterson has been training near his home in Houston and rarely shows for the start of these gatherings.
Shaq Lawson drew a lofty comparison during his Lions workout, according to Chase Goodbread of NFL.com (on Twitter). During one drill, Lions defensive line coach Kris Kocurek told the former Clemson pass-rusher during an explosiveness drill he’d only seen one player flash more during that particular drill, 2014 No. 1 overall pick Jadeveon Clowney. Lawson accumulated 45.5 tackles for loss in his three years at Clemson, 24.5 last season — his only as a starter.

NFLPA Revokes Certification Of Agent Ben Dogra

January 6th, 2016 at 6:51pm CST by Zachary Links

6:51pm: Dogra’s legal reps issued a statement to reporters in which he vowed to appeal the ruling (via Josina Anderson of ESPN.com on Twitter):

“Ben Dogra adamantly denies engaging in any conduct that was not in the best interests of his clients or NFL players. Ben has always been a strong advocate for NFL Players and is thankful for the show of support from his clients and others in the industry during this process. Ben will appeal the unprecedented, proposed discipline to neutral arbitration as provided under the NFLPA Regulations and looks forward to finally having an opportunity to examine and challenge the claims against him. The proposed discipline will not occur during the appeal process. It is therefore important that clients, NFL players, NFL teams, and Certified Contract Advisors understand that the discipline does not limit or prohibit Ben from representing his clients during the appeal process.”

6:12pm: On Wednesday, the NFLPA announced that the union’s Committee on Agent Regulations and Discipline (CARD) unanimously voted to impose discipline on agent Ben Dogra for multiple policy violations. Based on verified information included in a thirty-eight (38) count disciplinary complaint, Dogra has had his certification revoked for a minimum of three years and a $200K fine.

Dogra has the right to appeal before an independent arbitrator, so he has a chance to overturn the union’s ruling and regain his license to represent players. The union’s statement did not get into specifics about Dogra’s alleged wrongdoing but one has to imagine that details will emerge soon.

As detailed by Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal last year, Dogra had an impressive stable of NFL clients while with CAA Football. Dogra was fired by the firm in late 2014 and joined up with Relativity Football, taking a sizable list of high-end players with him. Notable names that stayed with Dogra include Adrian Peterson, Gerald McCoy, Robert Griffin III, DeMeco Ryans, Mario Williams, and Sebastian Vollmer. Now, those players and others will have to find new representation if the sanctions against Dogra stick.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.