Purple Rumor Mill: Patrick Peterson’s Request, Adam Thielen Trade Spot, Duke Shelley
VikingsTerritory’s Purple Rumor Mill is a two-day chronicle each week. All the week’s rumors are lassoed and plopped in two spots — articles on Saturday and Sunday — for review. Today is the October 20th edition.
Purple Rumor Mill: Patrick Peterson’s Request, Adam Thielen Trade Spot, Duke Shelley
Remember — rumors are rumors. What you read on weekends in these pieces is what the world is talking about pertaining to the Vikings, not necessarily items that will come to fruition.
Here’s the second batch of the week. Yesterday’s can be read here.
Rumor: Patrick Peterson would welcome a free-agent return to the Vikings.
Peterson joined The Zach Gelb Show last week and opined on his playing future: “I’m still leaving the book open, Zach. I’m still training. I’m still working out because, you know, my mind is still in it. It’s not like I cannot physically play, or I feel like I can’t physically give my best. I feel like I still have, you know, enough in the tank to help a team win. But, you know, that decision is out of my hands, so for the most part doing everything that I need to do just in case the phone do ring.”
The eight-time Pro Bowler last played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and is curiously unsigned at the moment. Peterson turned 34 in July — the same age as current Vikings CB1 Stephon Gilmore.
Gelb then pressed Peterson on destinations, asking if the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions, and Vikings would move the needle for his prospective employment.
Peterson replied, “Exactly,” and specifically said about Minnesota, “Oh yeah, I would like to be there too, man. I love the coaching staff there. Me and Coach Kevin O’Connell] had the opportunity to build a solid relationship over the nine months that I was with him. And it’s just a great feel and a great organization to be around, great guys to be around and show up to go to work with every day.”
Minnesota is one injury to Stephon Gilmore, Byron Murphy, or Shaquill Griffin from perhaps giving Peterson a jingle.
Rumor: Adam Thielen could be traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Thielen is recovering from a hamstring injury but should be healed by November 5th, the league’s trade deadline. Some team can likely procure his services for a late-round pick, probably a 6th- or 7th-Rounder. Per CBS Sports, that should be the Pittsburgh Steelers.
CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin sized up 10 NFL trades that the world would like to see — including Houston Texans RB Dameon Pierce to the Vikings — and for Thielen, that was Pittsburgh.
“The Steelers have been sniffing around blockbuster wideouts this year, from Davante Adams to Brandon Aiyuk, but there are an abundance of lower-tier alternatives who could be available. Thielen is one, coming off an injury at 34 for the Panthers’ stuck-in-mud rebuild,” Benjamin explained and surmised Thielen could be obtained for a conditional 5th-Rounder.
Thielen had just started to cook when Andy Dalton took the reins at QB1 after the early-season woes with Bryce Young at the helm. But the hamstring ailment sidelined the veteran.
Benjamin added, “He’s got a much lower ceiling than a playmaker like Adams, but when healthy, he’s remained one of the NFL’s most surehanded possession targets, making him a logical partner for the more explosive George Pickens in Pittsburgh’s otherwise old-school attack.”
Thielen to Pittsburgh, indeed, would check some boxes for both clubs.
Rumor: Former Vikings CB Duke Shelley is once again on the open market.
The Giants released Shelley from the practice squad this week, and the veteran defender is now free to sign anywhere in the league.
KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweeted Tuesday, “Giants release Duke Shelley from practice squad.”
All told, Shelley played in one game for the Giants, logging 14 defensive snaps and 9 special teams plays. New York scooped Shelley when the Vikings cut him late in the summer, but he only saw action for 23 total snaps before the Tuesday release.
This guy could be on Minnesota’s radar if a player like Stephon Gilmore, Byron Murphy, or Shaquill Griffin encountered injury, not unlike the aforementioned Peterson. Shelley played wonderfully for the 2022 Vikings.
Ex-Vikings Starter Signs with Giants
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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