Clayton: ‘I don’t think Adrian Peterson will come to Arizona’

On the first day of Adrian Peterson’s official
reinstatement, ESPN’s John Clayton gave to us…

…Nothing. As in, Clayton doesn’t think Peterson will
come to play for the Arizona Cardinals this season.

“You’re getting into one of the better running back
drafts in recent years,” he told Arizona Sports 98.7
FM‘s Doug and Wolf Friday morning. “There’s guys
that you can get in the second round, and
they fit what your need is, then you’re not paying a
big
salary for Adrian Peterson,” he said.

Clayton said if the deal does happen, it
wouldn’t until at least the second day of the 2015 NFL
Draft, when the Cardinals have seen both first and
second round options.

“You then have the ability to go back to the Minnesota
Vikings and say, ‘Alright, here’s the deal. We’ll give
you the equivalent of a fourth or a third round choice
in a tradearound, in the sense that, okay, if we give
you this choice, you’ll give us back that choice, and
then you give us Adrian Peterson, and then give us the
ability to negotiate a contract,'” he said.

“But that’s where the tricky part is. That would first
allow the Vikings to at least say, ‘Okay, we’re trading
him,’ and then you now have the ability to negotiate a
contract, but if you go that way and you don’t get a
contract and he’s not happy with the money being
offered by the teams, then nothing gets done.”

Clayton is sure the Vikings would want a first-round
pick and maybe would settle for a second-round pick.

The problem, though, is Peterson’s age — and his
current contract — weigh down his value.

“You could put it so the Cardinals would give up a
second (round pick), but they’d probably need a fourth
in return,” he said. “If you’re the Minnesota Vikings,
are you willing to give up Adrian Peterson for a
fourth-round pick?”

The answer around the table: “No.”

The Vikings may also consider the Teddy Bridgewater-
Adrian Peterson combination, which Clayton thinks could
be a “Wild Card playoff team,” — IF Peterson plays
through reported unhappiness with the team and
organization.

So, when the Peterson Madness settles, Clayton says he
thinks the running back will stay with the Vikings.

“Yeah, I don’t know if he’ll be in a Vikings uniform,”
he
laughed, referring to speculation that Peterson may not play despite potentially being retained by Minnesota. “You know, $12.75 million can make you
feel better about a bad situation.”