Vikings coach Mike Zimmer tells Adrian Peterson what his two choices are

The Adrian Peterson saga is leading to one of two conclusions, no matter how many alternate paths are suggested.

And if there was any ambiguity about the situation, Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer laid them out very simply.

"Adrian really has two choices: He can either play for us or he cannot play," Zimmer told reporters on Wednesday, via the NFL Network. "He's not going to play for anyone else, that's just the way it's going to be."

That's it. That's the list. And the "he'll retire" part of that equation seems like the emptiest of threats.

Peterson is looking quite petulant in this battle, which isn't really a battle. It's one side stomping its feet while the other shrugs. Peterson, apparently, isn't happy with how the Vikings handled the situation last year regarding his legal issue. Peterson was indicted in a child-abuse case after his then 4-year-old son suffered injuries when Peterson punished him with a switch, and Peterson eventually pled no contest.

Here's the problem with Peterson being upset, and his agent's bickering in public: He has no leverage. His only hint of leverage is to not play, which isn't much leverage at all. The Vikings just keep his $12.75 million base salary and go on without him. Peterson has much more to lose in that scenario. If Peterson retires, he'd be doing so in his prime and walking away from the more than $40 million remaining on his contract. He also wouldn't do many favors for his Pro Football Hall of Fame candidacy, though it's possible he has done enough already in that regard. But he wouldn't really gain much from it.

This is a staredown in which only one side is staring. The other side is just waiting to fast-forward to the part in which we reach the conclusion everyone knows we'll reach, and Peterson is in the Week 1 lineup. A trade seems extremely unlikely, and that has been the case since the draft ended. The Vikings should have playoff hopes this season so they won't sell low on a former MVP, and if a team was going to give up what Minnesota wanted they have had ample opportunity to do so. He's not getting cut; there's zero point in that. Peterson is likely not retiring either, for the reasons we all know. Even a reworked contract seems like an unreasonable request, considering Peterson already has a mega-deal that looks phenomenal compared to recent running back deals. Peterson sitting out of OTAs will just cost him $250,000; it won't change anything regarding his situation. Simply, no good is going to come out of this stance for Peterson.

Like Zimmer said, either Peterson plays for Minnesota, or he doesn't play. Everyone should expect he'll play. Peterson just looks bad by his camp continuing to press for a trade or leaking hard-to-believe retirement rumors. The conclusion likely won't change no matter what other threats he or his handlers can invent.