Vikings coach expects Peterson to stay

Published 10:52 am Thursday, March 26, 2015

PHOENIX — The Minnesota Vikings don’t plan to trade Adrian Peterson and fully expect him to be with the team for the 2015 season.

His agent and Peterson believe otherwise.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was emphatic about keeping Peterson at the NFL owners’ meetings Wednesday.

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“We’re good to go. I mean, he’s under contract and we expect him to honor it,” Zimmer said. “I think when he goes into the Hall of Fame, he’s going to want to go in with the jersey that everyone remembers him as. That will be as a Viking.”

Not so fast, agent Ben Dogra told The Associated Press.

“Adrian and I feel it is in his best interest, and it would be his desire, to play elsewhere in the NFL,” Dogra said. “This is not personal in any way, it is business.”

Peterson’s contract has three years remaining, with a $12.75 million salary for 2015. None of the remaining money on the deal is guaranteed.

Peterson, 30, has not yet been reinstated by the NFL from his suspension under the personal conduct policy. The star running back and 2012 league MVP has balked at returning to the team, questioning the Minnesota organization’s support of him after he was suspended for disciplining his 4-year-old son with a wooden switch. The case was resolved in court with a plea bargain.

“I think we are pretty firm,” Zimmer said. “I think we handled everything the way we are allowed to handle it.

“At times we were not able to speak with him, which really is kind of ridiculous because of the (league) rules.”

Peterson currently is on the commissioner’s exempt list while the NFL appeals a federal judge’s decision to nullify an arbitration ruling that upheld his suspension.

Dogra said the standstill comes down to how the Vikings view his client.

“I would like to have their position in writing, and they have not done so,” Dogra said.