Silence Broken

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson broke his silence.

Personally, I'd rather listen to Adrian Peterson bitch about something than the media speculate about anything.

Head coach Mike Zimmer likely triggered Peterson's "bitching"  when he stated that the running back could play for the Vikings or not play football at all. Zimmer is clearly tired of the non-stop media questions on this topic. He was probably tired of the questions last September. Hell, I'm tired of the questions and they aren't even asked of me. Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman couldn't be more clear about about the Vikings stance. The Vikings value Peterson. They want him on the team. They are a better team with him as a part of it. They'll continue to make him the highest-paid running back in the league. And, this is important, they are not trading him. The Vikings have been saying this for months. Yet, they are still asked the same damn questions at every opportunity. Peterson's idiot lawyer Ben Dogra has been a driving force behind the redundant nonsense and it only feeds the drama. Some of the more dogged in the media (Chris Tomasson and Charles Robinson) have been prying quotes and information from Peterson's "inner circle" and reporting it as fact. Adrian Peterson hasn't said a thing. Few seem to realize that. Peterson hasn't said a thing. That was until Zimmer listed his only option.

Peterson spoke. Actually he tweeted. Instead of a nice little sit-down with Bob Costas. Better yet, Mike Zimmer. Peterson spoke through Twitter. Perhaps the worst platform for communicating. Ever. But, it does get your thoughts, effectively conveyed or not, out there. It was clear from the start that Peterson's issues and absence from the Vikings practices this week were due to money and his future security.

"The reason I'm not attending OTAs has nothing to do with wanting to be traded. It's about securing my future with the Vikings. It's business, not personal and I understand that firsthand. Go Vikings."

Maybe that can put to rest all of the ridiculous trade rumors that has helped make this the most annoying NFL offseason since the 2011 lockout. Peterson spoke. That message was sent to ESPN's Josina Anderson and was released to a public thirsty for words straight from Peterson. From that brief statement there's little doubt that money and security are the issues. That statement was also the beginning of a rant. Some might call it "bitching" as Peterson tweeted more in a day than he's tweeted in months. He spoke of the one-sided nature of NFL contracts. He said that teams have too much power in what is supposed to be a two-way agreement between team and player. He's right. It used to be much worse but the teams still have far more control over a player's football future than the player. There was a time, not long ago, that there was no guaranteed money in the contracts. Players could be jettisoned at any time. Now, players get some guaranteed money, some future security. But, teams can still turn a lucrative six-year contract into a much less lucrative three-year contract as soon as the guaranteed money runs dry. The future security that a player felt the day that he signed the contract suddenly becomes not so secure when he's on the street with no team to call home. Peterson is absolutely right that current NFL contracts are very far from a two-way agreement. It's better than it once was but it's far from what most would consider to be fair. Maybe someday NFL contracts will be fully guaranteed. Maybe it takes Peterson "bitching" or the Seattle Seahawks wanting to get Russell Wilson signed long-term to bring about that first fully-guaranteed NFL contract. e

When a team let's a player go for "salary cap reasons" it's considered business. When a player wants to renegotiate his contract he's a malcontent. He's not honoring his contract. The team that releases a player isn't honoring that contract. Adrian Peterson isn't threatening to hold out. I guess that skipping OTAs is a holdout of sorts but anyone that thought that he'd be at any of the practices so far is incredibly naive. Many players content with their contract situation skip OTAs. They work out on their own and report to the team when they have to report. I wasn't expecting Peterson in Minnesota until the team's mandatory mini-camp at the end of June. Despite the insistence of some in the media Peterson hasn't asked for a trade. He simply wants the guarantees that obviously come with guaranteed money. He wants the security that it brings. In recent years he's seen valued teammates like Antoine Winfield, Kevin Williams, Greg Jennings, and Chad Greenway cut loose with years left on their contracts or forced to take pay cuts. Peterson isn't upset with the Vikings. They want him on the team. Despite missing all but one game last season they haven't asked him to take a paycut. A lost season for which he was paid more than any other running back. Peterson is apparently content with the amount of  money that he is scheduled to make over the next three years. He should be seeing as no other back is scheduled to make anywhere near his salary. He doesn't like the absence of guaranteed money. Which is something that he should have seen coming the day that he agreed to the contract. My feeling has been that Peterson will earn the money remaining on his contract if he keeps running with the football like I know that he can. He just turned 30 and I don't see him slowing down anytime soon. As soon as he steps on the field for the first game in each of the next three seasons his lucrative contract will become guaranteed. But, that doesn't account for what could happen before the first game of each season. He could suffer an injury in training camp and "poof!" no more guaranteed money. No more security. Peterson has valid concerns. He's just expressing his concerns at a bad time. Complaining about guaranteed money after being paid for a season in which he played a single game due to his own of-the-field actions just doesn't look or feel right. It feels more like a time in which he should simply come back to work for a team that is delighted to pay him a lot of money to play a game.