Tuesday, April 25, 2017

It'll be a frosty September evening in Minneapolis

Perhaps the best running back in Minnesota Vikings history finally has a new home.

Adrian Peterson plans to sign with the New Orleans Saints, he told ESPN's Josina Anderson Tuesday morning.

The deal, while technically covering two years, is a one-year deal plus a one-year option.

Peterson told Anderson that the deal is worth a base total value of $7 million. Here are the terms Peterson says he has agreed to at this point: The 2017 compensation is $3.5 million (all guaranteed at signing), which includes a $1 million guaranteed salary in 2017 and a $2.5 million signing bonus.

The maximum incentives package is $8.25 million and whatever incentives are reached in 2017 get added to the per-game roster bonuses in 2018.

The 2018 compensation is $3.5 million, none of which is guaranteed. It includes $2.4 million in total roster bonuses (which includes a $750,000 roster bonus earned on third day of free agency plus $1.65 million in per-game roster bonuses), a $1.05 million salary and a $50,000 workout bonus.


Oh, and the Saints' week one opponent in 2017? That would be Peterson's former club in Minneapolis on Monday Night Football. And the narrative is already being floated on how AP wants to stick it so his former club.

Peterson relishes the opportunity to prove people wrong, as he did when ran for 2,097 yards and won league MVP honors in 2012 after returning in nine months from a torn ACL. He bristled at the notion he couldn't be effective after returning from a torn meniscus in three months last season, and has offered reactions ranging from amused to annoyed when his age (32) is used to suggest he might not be able to produce the way he has in the past. He undoubtedly will be intent on making a statement in 2017, and his first chance to do it will be against the team that drafted him, employed him for 10 years, brought him back after his 2015 suspension, but ultimately let him go when it decided to get younger.


If indeed Peterson has an effective game week one, it wouldn't be the first time he's assisted the Saints in defeating the Vikings.

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