Now that Adrian Peterson has been reinstated to the NFL, is it a “no-brainer” for the Vikings to trade him or would they be “out of their minds” to deal him before he plays another down for Minnesota?
Jarrett Bell of USA Today SPORTS thinks the Vikings would be sort of brainless to trade Peterson because, Bell believes, he’ll be a man on a mission in 2015.
Bell predicts Peterson will use his fall from sports grace to put together another 2,000-yard rushing season. Only seven players have rushed for 2,000 yards in a season, but no player has done it twice.
Add ESPN’s Skip Bayless to the growing list of personalities who believe Peterson is going to dominate the NFL again.
"If I'm the @Vikings I HANG ON to @AdrianPeterson…I think he will BOUNCE BACK with a MONSTER season." – Skip pic.twitter.com/L1OwLiCTHa
— First Take (@FirstTake) April 17, 2015
Another name on the bandwagon is Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman, who believes Peterson will once again be a “bullying, nasty, tornadic on-field punisher that we saw before.”
Freeman said if Peterson could return from knee reconstruction and rush for 2,097 yards in 2012 with “Christian Freaking Ponder” as his quarterback, then he’ll be quite capable of overcoming the 30-year-old running back curse to once again be a dominant player.
https://twitter.com/AdrianPeterson/status/588854770552582144
Greg Bedard of Monday Morning Quarterback is on the no-brainer side of the spectrum. He writes:
“Peterson is a great player, but we’ve seen time and time again that you don’t need a great running back to win the Super Bowl. You need a great team, and the Vikings still have work to do in that regard. And with Peterson continuously voicing his displeasure with the team, trading him is a no-brainer. If he doesn’t want to be there, don’t let him. The Vikings should take whatever they can get for Peterson and wash their hands of him.”
Expect plenty of speculation between now and the NFL Draft on April 30. Freeman also noted that the Cowboys, Cardinals and Raiders could still work out a deal for Peterson.
Time will tell.
