The Dallas Cowboys have been touted as a possible trade partner with the Minnesota Vikings for the rights to All Pro running back Adrian Peterson for months in the wake of Peterson's declaration that he no longer wishes to remain a member of the NFL's Minnesota franchise.
On Tuesday, Cowboys executive vice president and COO Stephen Jones appeared on 105.3 The Fan and did his best to quell the growing Peterson rumors.
"I don't see us using any picks to trade for veteran players," Jones said, per Jon Machota of The Dallas Morning News.
Jones' comments seem a thinly veiled reference to the persistent talk that the Cowboys are among a handful of teams currently in pursuit of Peterson.
Chris Tomasson of TwinCities.com reported on Monday that there were six teams in the mix for Peterson: the Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars, San Diego Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Despite the ample interest though, according to Tomasson's source, if Peterson isn't traded before or during the looming 2015 NFL Draft, he simply won't be dealt at all.
That being said, interest does remain and teams could increase their offers as the draft nears and especially after it starts.
"The source said Minnesota could be able to entice a team once Melvin Gordon and Todd Gurley, the two top backs in the draft, are off the board," reports Tomasson.
The Cowboys, after losing last season's starter and the leading rusher in the NFL, DeMarco Murray, to the rival Philadelphia Eagles in free agency, are rumored to be targeting a running back early in the 2015 NFL Draft, with various reports suggesting they're enamored with one or both of Gordon and Gurley.
Selecting at No. 27 in the first-round though, means that Dallas very well may come out of the initial portion of the draft empty-handed absent a trade up to secure on of the top two backs.
The Cowboys did sign former Oakland Raider Darren McFadden this offseason, but the former first-round pick has struggled to stay healthy and produce consistently during his NFL career.
The 30-year-old Peterson remains under contract with the Vikings for the next three seasons at a total salary of $43.25 million, $12.75 million of which he will receive for the 2015 season alone. The Cowboys, per OverTheCap.com, currently have approximately $12.29 million in cap space, at least $5 to $6 million of which must go to signing their incoming crop of draft picks.
While there's no doubting the fact that Peterson would add a devastatingly effective element to the Cowboys offense were Dallas to actually deal for him, it seems with Jones' comments and considering the myriad of factors involved in actually pulling a trade off, Peterson just isn't destined to play with the vaunted star on his helmet.
