2014 Minnesota Vikings: Adrian Peterson to Plead Guilty to Class A Misdemeanor

UPDATE: Per ProFootballTalk, Peterson will not plead guilty, but will plead no contest. He will not serve jail time and the charge will in fact not contain reference to a child or family (as indicated below):

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Peterson will plead no contest to one count of misdemeanor reckless assault.  The plea will not include reference to family violence or violence against a minor.

If the agreement is accepted by Judge Kelly Case, Peterson will pay a $2,000 fine, be placed on probation, and perform 80 hours of community service.  Technically, the adjudication of the case will be deferred for two years.

PFT thinks Peterson would be reinstated by the Bears game, but that the NFL could impose a punishment before then, and has a strong feeling that the NFL will act swiftly in order to avoid a PR mess. We’ll see what that means.


According to My Fox Twin Cities, Adrian Peterson will plead guilty to a Class A Misdemeanor in Montgomery County, as previously reported by Adam Schefter. The most important part of the report as it regards the Minnesota Vikings and his playing time:

A source told Fox 26 that Peterson and his legal team were informed the plea deal is acceptable to the NFL and opens the door for his return to Vikings this season.

In this case, the plea deal is expected to include probation. In Texas a Class A Misdemeanor carries maximum penalties that include any combination of a one-year sentence in jail, a $4000 fine and/or probation.

If the plea deal is “acceptable to the NFL” per the Fox report, then his suspension could be minimal or even nonexistent, which would counter reports that he would inevitably face suspension from the league.

As a reminder, the NFL does not even need a conviction to suspend a player, so long as the established facts of the case support a violation of the conduct policy—a category of offense that gives the commissioner full authority over punishment (and therefore would be subject to minimal pushback from the NFLPA or Peterson). Many of these plea deals reduce the charge to base assault, and would remove any mention of a child.

Whether or not the NFL would consider missed games as “time served”—a common term used when discussing Peterson’s NFL case—remains to be seen, but fining games he already missed could cause some issues with the way the CBA has been designed and with privileges Peterson may have already had access to.

More news as the story progresses.

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