Report: Arizona Cardinals don’t want to part with first-round pick for Adrian Peterson

As we creep closer and closer to the NFL Draft, the rumors and reports about possible trade rumors surrounding former NFL MVP Adrian Peterson will continue to surface.

Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports has been on top of the story all offseason, and he’s now reporting that the Arizona Cardinals, at least a few days before the draft, think the price tag of a first-round pick is too steep.

Peterson likes Arizona a great deal. All offseason, the Cardinals have been at the top of the heap of his preferred destinations. And if this could all be wrapped up for a second-round pick and a reworked contract, this deal would have been done over a month ago. But as of the beginning of draft week, that’s not working.

Right now, the Vikings aren’t moving Peterson for a second-round pick – particularly if that choice is late in the second round, which it is for the Cardinals, who have the 55th overall selection. With the third round starting at pick No. 65, the 55th pick feels a lot closer to the third round than it does the first.

Bottom line: the Cardinals’ front office and coaching staff feels like they already have a really good team, particularly if quarterback Carson Palmer is 100 percent. And while Peterson could significantly upgrade that offense, Arizona feels like the price of the 24th overall pick and three years of guaranteed money for a 30-year-old running back is too steep. Could that change on draft day? Possibly.

With Georgia running back Todd Gurley looking more likely to be selected somewhere in the top-10 range, Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon may not be there at No. 24. And that’s assuming the Cardinals like Gordon as a first-round pick, which there is no certainty that they do.

Robinson does go on to point out that the drop-off from Gurley and Gordon to the rest of the running back group, at least in some scouts’ eyes, is substantial. That could mean the Cardinals are more apt to still try and trade for Peterson by Thursday.

The writer also lists the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars as teams who could still be in the running to acquire Peterson should a trade finally happen.