Adrian Peterson has been reinstated, which has sparked a slew of trade rumors. That was to be expected, since Peterson’s relationship with the Minnesota Vikings has by all indications become sour. But I’m frankly shocked to see reports the Vikes would require at least a first-round pick — and maybe a lot more — in exchange for the embattled veteran running back.
On one hand, that’s kind of awesome. Minnesota is being stubborn here and quite possibly giving a play-for-us-or-retire ultimatum to a player who it knows will likely make an improving team better in 2015. But the reality is nobody should be remotely interested in giving up anything of substance — let alone a high draft pick — for a 30-year-old running back with a $15.4 million salary cap hit.
Age 30 is geriatric in running back terms. As ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert points out, Peterson’s already three years beyond the point at which players at that position begin to decline. You’d be buying stock that is guaranteed to plummet at a marked-up rate. There’s hardly even a logical way to defend signing a declining and controversial back as a free agent. Trading away top picks and/or players for the right to pay him the highest salary at his position is clinical insanity.
You don’t sign 30-year-old running backs in this league, period. So you definitely don’t trade for them. At this point in his career, Peterson shouldn’t have any value whatsoever on the trade market or the open market.
But he can still be a leader while having a positive impact on a young Vikings team, and he’s already on the Minnesota roster and familiar with the offense. That’s why it’s easy for the Vikes to take a hard-line stance here. They’ve got little to lose. And with Peterson, the rest of the league would have little to gain.
