Adrian Peterson will become a free agent when the NFL season officially kicks off on March 9th. He will join the rest of the aging stars that franchises cut or won’t exercise team options on. AP is arguably the best running back of his time. So what does the future hold for Peterson?
Teams, owners and coaches will have a tough time evaluating Peterson’s abilities. AP has played in only 20 games over the last 3 seasons, 16 of those in 2015. We all know running backs have the shortest tenure in the league (2.57 years). It’s also known that there is a major decline in production once they hit 30. But, we are talking about Adrian Peterson! This is the same guy that tore his ACL in December of 2011 and was able to return opening day of the 2012. Oh yeah, he rushed for 2,097 yards and 10 TDs that season! That said, what will happen to AP this off season?
There are a lot of rumors out there that AP will stay in Minnesota under a new contract. AP said earlier this off season that he would like to play for the Giants. Some say he will go where all aging players go to die, the Raiders. I’m an outside of the box kind of guy. I’m saying that Peterson goes the New England to play for Bill Belichick and the Patriots. This may not make much sense to you, but let me explain my thought.
Blount is a free agent this year. He rushed for 18 TDs last season and will be looking to get paid handsomely. I don’t buy into the Blount hype and I don’t think the Patriots do either. I think Blount moves on from the Patriots leaving only a couple guys in the backfield that are primarily passing-down RBs. Enter AP. He is a bruiser that averaged 4.9 yards per carry throughout his career and has over 100 total TDs. He has accomplished everything in his career except 1 thing, a championship. The Patriots are already the Vegas favorite to repeat as champs. I’m sure those odds would only get better if AP joined the team.
In closing, I don’t know if AP is going to join the Patriots. I’m sure there is a better chance he doesn’t than he does. I’m saying I think this would be a great fit for the Patriots, AP and Patriots fans if Belichick could lock him down at the right price. What do you think?