Links of the Week: Oh Look, Adrian Peterson Speculation

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Feb 16, 2017

Allow me to momentarily interrupt the ever-present and ongoing Teddy vs. Sam debate (Mobility! Winner! Accuracy! Smile!) with another edition of Links of the Week. Perhaps the only Vikings-related topic discussed as much as the quarterback dilemma (which, until both are healthy, is not a dilemma at all) the last few weeks is the potential landing place for Adrian Peterson. Peterson is still under contract with the Vikings for one more year, but with an $18 million cap hit, there’s a high likelihood the team will cut bait. The Vikings could of course bring him back at a lower dollar amount, but as our first bullet points out, the Adrian Peterson speculation knows no bounds:

  • In fact, the Star Tribune‘s Michael Rand writes Peterson has been linked to basically every NFL team. This post is a good collection of all the speculation, from intriguing to ridiculous. Some of the more reasonable teams named are the Giants, Buccaneers and…the Packers.
  • Adrian himself weighed in on Twitter Wednesday night, in his usual ham-fisted way of trying to be ominous or something:

From where I’m sitting, it looks to me like the majority of Vikings fans are either apathetic about Peterson returning or would like him gone altogether. This may or may not be representative of the total fanbase, but I imagine a healthy chunk of Vikings nation had the same reaction as me to Peterson’s tweet: whaaaaaaaaatever, dude.

  • The only reason I didn’t lead with this is because everyone has already seen it, but if you haven’t, please stop reading and go watch all of Randy Moss’s 40+ yard touchdowns. Moss turned 40 this week, and NFL.com put together this nice (long) cut in his honor. The early Vikings stuff is especially good—I forgot how great Moss was at fighting off defensive backs and winning 50/50 balls.
  • Vikings.com‘s Craig Peters asked five high-profile NFL reporters  how a full offseason together could help the Sam Bradford/Pat Shurmur combination. It’s always refreshing to hear from national guys and get Vikings opinions from outside the bubble.
  • The venerable Sid Hartman thinks the Vikings should mimic the 1973 team next season. Sid’s become an easy punching bag for local media, but his knowledge of Minnesota sports history is unmatched, and the parallel he makes between Fran Tarkenton and Sam Bradford—both in their second seasons after being acquired by the Vikings—might sound ridiculous, but it’s at least interesting to ponder.
  • Potential targets for the franchise tag—remember that?—from The Viking Age. Could Cordarrelle Patterson get slapped with the tag? (Probably not, no. But you never know.)
  • Finally, have some fun with Vikings valentines from Daily Norseman‘s Eric Thompson.

 

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