The Adrian Peterson saga continues.
The disgruntled Minnesota Vikings running back has been reinstated by the league but has not yet joined the rest of his team as they begin voluntary offseason workouts at Vikings headquarters.
His agent, Ben Dogra - he of the NFL rookie scouting combine shouting match with a member of the Vikings brass - was recently seen sporting a Tampa Bay Buccaneers hat while relaxing in front of a Peterson jersey not long after posting photos of Peterson gear with a cryptic message about the All Pro back.
Now, a report from Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports via Walter Football alleges that three teams - the Arizona Cardinals, Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars are all in the running to obtain Peterson's services.
It has long been rumored that the Dallas Cowboys are interested in acquiring the bruising ballcarrier as well, but it seems cap constraints have them looking to the 2015 NFL Draft for DeMarco Murray's replacements.
The Cardinals are a particularly easy connection to make for a potential Peterson trade mostly because Bruce Arians crew seems to be an elite running back away from becoming Super Bowl favorites. Assuming quarterback Carson Palmer returns to some semblance of health, he'll combine with the versatile Andre Ellington, wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd and John Brown and tight end John Carlson to form an impressive group of offensive weaponry.
Adding Peterson to a squad would like that would easily put them over the top and into the elite category. Fitzgerald even went so far as to say earlier this offseason that adding Peterson to the team would be a "game changer."
Yes, Larry. It would. It really would.
The Buccaneers and Jaguars, on the other hand, could certainly use Peterson, but seem much farther away from serious contention making a deal unlikely.
With the reported price for Peterson hovering somewhere in the vicinity of a first-round pick "and more," it's hard to see it making sense for two franchises at least a couple of seasons away from reaching the postseason, let alone making some serious noise once they got there, trading away significant rebuilding assets for an already 30-year-old running back set to cost close to $13 million per season over the next three years.
Then again, crazier things have happened in the NFL.
Perhaps Bucs head coach Lovie Smith, after adding Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota in the 2015 NFL Draft, believes that he's suddenly got a playoff-ready roster or Gus Bradley thinks Blake Bortles is ready for a big step forward in his second NFL season and after missing out on Murray in free agency wants Peterson to help take the pressure off Bortles and balance out the Jaguars offense.
Whether Peterson stays or goes, his name will continue to be bandied about in trade rumors until the 2015 NFL Draft passes and/or he actually reports for active Vikings duty.
