Yahoo! Sports’ Robinson: It will take ‘an unreal trade offer’ to land Adrian Peterson
Apr 29, 2015, 7:39 PM | Updated: 7:39 pm
Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman spoke Tuesday and said the team has “no interest” in trading Adrian Peterson.
Yahoo! Sports’ Charles Robinson told Doug and Wolf Wednesday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM that he believes the Vikings would still be open to trading Peterson, but it would take a lot to do it.
“Rick Spielman’s feet are in cement on this issue,” Robinson said. “He wants Adrian Peterson. He wants to keep Adrian Peterson, and the only way his feet are coming out of the cement — the cement is just an unreal trade offer that’s going to have to include a first round pick.”
The Arizona Cardinals have the 24th pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, and Robinson said Monday they don’t want to give that up for the 30-year-old running back.
Apparently, that wouldn’t even be enough now.
“Even a first round pick alone won’t do it, that will just be a conversation starter,” Robinson said.
Peterson has reportedly been unhappy with the Vikings for some time and Arizona is on his “wish-list” of teams. The Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons have also been named as places of interest.
In 2012, Peterson fell eight yards short of breaking Eric Dickerson’s record for most rushing yards in a season at 2,105. He followed that up with a 1,266 yard season in 2013, but only played one game for the Vikings last year.
Robinson said the Vikings think Peterson could be essential to the development of young starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. As a rookie, Bridgewater played 13 games. But since he didn’t make his debut until late September, he never got a chance to play with the running back.
“They still view Adrian Peterson as a top-10 player in the NFL, and they don’t want to take that away from Teddy Bridgewater,” Robinson said.
With the first round of the draft set for Thursday, the time to act is approaching quickly for any team that wants a trade. So, if the Cardinals don’t want to give up a first round pick and more, Peterson likely won’t be in the Valley next season.
“The only way this changes is if the Cardinals pick up the phone and say — or whatever team picks up the phone and says, ‘You know what? Let’s start with our first round pick. Let’s start talking,'” Robinson said.
