The Arizona Cardinals have been in existence in their current iteration since 1988. That's 27 years. In all that time, only six Cardinals running backs have topped 1,000 rushing yards in a season. Of those six, five averaged less than 4.0 yards per carry.
Ouch.
Running back Andre Ellington, after an impressive rookie season, proved incapable of being an every- down ball carrier this past season. He rushed for just 660 yards on 201 carries (though he did catch 39 passes for 371 yards and one touchdown). Basically, this a long way of saying the Cardinals need some help in their backfield.
One out-of-the-box suggestion for Arizona put forth by Vince Verhei of Football Outsiders is to try and sign Adrian Peterson.
"Signing Peterson would give the Cardinals their best runner since Ottis Anderson, but they'll need some luck to pull it off," Verhei wrote. "First, Peterson will need a federal judge to overturn his NFL suspension given that Peterson is no longer facing criminal charges in Texas and continues to work with Minnesota officials in attempts to maintain joint custody of his son, that seems likely. Next, the Minnesota Vikings would have to release Peterson, and given his age (he turns 30 in March) and paycheck (his cap hit this season will be more than $15 million), plus the promising rookie season of Jerick McKinnon, that could happen. Finally, the Cardinals would have to convince their fan base that Peterson is a decent person worthy of their cheers."
While Peterson's release from the Vikings is not a guarantee, it wouldn't come as a complete surprise. The Vikings likely do not want to pay upwards of $15 million for a 30-year-old running back who sat for all but one game last season. Peterson, meanwhile, previously balked at taking a pay cut and may not have changed his mind. If the two sides can't agree to a restructuring, then a release is possible.
Now, Arizona doesn't exactly have the most salary cap space this offseason. However, the new deal it struck with receiver Larry Fitzgerald this morning will open up about $13 million in cap space this season.
Would the Cardinals use that extra money to make a splashy signing at running back? Would Peterson want to come to the desert and would Cardinals fans accept him? We'll just have to wait to find out.
