When Adrian Peterson showed up for offseason workouts with the Minnesota Vikings on June 2, the next two years of his career with the franchise were essentially cemented.
Up until that date, Peterson didn't know exactly what he wanted. He thought at length about a trade. He thought about retirement. He even thought – maybe dreamed – about returning to his sprinting roots and aiming for the 2016 Olympics. But at the end of every day, Peterson still felt he had unfinished business. He still wanted to be with his Vikings teammates. And he still wanted to play for head coach Mike Zimmer. So after an icy offseason – which saw the Vikings and Peterson's agent, Ben Dogra, digging into opposing trenches – the running back decided to take what he thought was a necessary step. He would show up for offseason workouts, step out of his entrenched position and try to move the relationship forward.
Up until that date, Peterson didn't know exactly what he wanted. He thought at length about a trade. He thought about retirement. He even thought – maybe dreamed – about returning to his sprinting roots and aiming for the 2016 Olympics. But at the end of every day, Peterson still felt he had unfinished business. He still wanted to be with his Vikings teammates. And he still wanted to play for head coach Mike Zimmer. So after an icy offseason – which saw the Vikings and Peterson's agent, Ben Dogra, digging into opposing trenches – the running back decided to take what he thought was a necessary step. He would show up for offseason workouts, step out of his entrenched position and try to move the relationship forward.
This is how Tuesday's contract restructure happened, a development that should keep Peterson in the Vikings backfield through at least 2016. It came together with Peterson returning to the fold and the Vikings giving away a monumental piece of leverage (in the form of Peterson's totally unguaranteed remaining years) and showing the two sides would be committed to each other for at least another two years.
The continuance of the marriage, which gives Peterson $20 million in guarantees over the next two seasons, is as much about Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater as anything else. Sources told Yahoo Sports that Minnesota general manager Rick Spielman never wavered inside the franchise – he wanted Peterson on the roster and taking handoffs from Bridgewater, and barring a massive trade offer, Peterson wasn't going anywhere. And some inside the franchise doubted even a big trade offer could change Spielman's mind.
Spielman's stance set the stage. It put Peterson into a place where either he was going to show up and play football, or he was going to sit out and lose chunks of a massive $13 million payday. And moreover, he was going to continue to get hammered by the fan base and Minnesota media, two things he was not taking well in the offseason.
But as lost as Peterson was at times – and as strained as it seemed between Dogra and the Vikings – it was never as bad as some of what was reported. Particularly one of the more eyebrow raising incidents: when Dogra allegedly nearly came to fisticuffs with Vikings president of football operations Rob Brzezinski at the NFL scouting combine in February. The "confrontation" was reported nationally and cited as a sign that things had completely broken down between the franchise and player. The only problem? It didn't happen the way it was reported.
Two sources who witnessed the "confrontation" said Dogra and Brzezinski were laughing and good-naturedly "trash talking" each other in the widely reported moment, but neither was threatening the other. At one point, the sources said, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers executive Mark Dominik playfully pretended to get in between Brzezinski and Dogra, but the scene was not remotely acrimonious. In turn, the day after the "incident," Yahoo Sports witnessed both Dogra and Brzezinski sitting at a bar together and talking the next day.
That didn't mean things were perfect. Sources said Dogra was pushing a trade with the Vikings and getting consistently rebuffed. This was partially because no team was calling to offer anything significant for Peterson, and partially because Spielman continued to insist that the Vikings weren't interested in a trade.
When the draft came and went without the trade happening, it became clear Peterson's options had run out. The chances of finding a post-draft trade partner to offer anything of value for Peterson – barring the Dallas Cowboys losing their minds – was almost zero. At the same time, Peterson continued to feel the tug back to football and had kept a line of communication open to Zimmer. After missing a portion of the offseason workouts, sources said Peterson decided that he would take a step forward and return to the team, with the hope that the Vikings would be willing to protect him with some guaranteed money in 2015 and 2016. At the time, there was also an indication from the franchise that Minnesota would be open to sharing some of the financial risk.
Once Peterson returned and professed his commitment to the team in June, it was only a matter of time before the Vikings took a step toward putting his fears to rest. Advanced talks began to move forward last week about guaranteeing his 2015 salary and at least a sizable portion of 2016 as well.
Both sides won. Both sides moved forward. And arguably the most trying chapter shared by Adrian Peterson and the Vikings has finally closed.
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