Addition of Murray ends Peterson’s run
MINNEAPOLIS — Adrian Peterson's time with the Minnesota Vikings is over.
Minnesota general manager Rick Spielman confirmed so Thursday.
The Vikings signed former Oakland Raiders running back Latavius Murray early Thursday after a long night of negotiations. Then Spielman acknowledged in the afternoon he had spoken with Peterson to wish him well, clarifying that the franchise's all-time leading rusher will play elsewhere in 2017. The Vikings declined their $18 million option on his contract for 2017 to make him a free agent for the first time in his career.
"Adrian will be moving on," Spielman said on a conference call with reporters.
Peterson, the 2012 league MVP and a four-time AllPro pick, played 10 seasons for the Vikings. He has rushed for 11,747 yards and 97 touchdowns.
Murray, who will join Jerick McKinnon as the team's top two running backs, spent four years with the Raiders after being drafted in the sixth round out of UCF in 2013. He rushed for 788 yards and a career-high 12 touchdowns last season despite missing two games with a toe injury.
Murray signed a threeyear contract for $15 million, with $8.5 million guaranteed.
Murray, 27, rushed for 2,278 yards and 20 touchdowns over four years with the Raiders.
Murray played in the Pro Bowl after the 2015 season, when he became Oakland's lead ball carrier and topped the 1,000-yard mark. Since 2014, Murray has 20 rushing touchdowns, the second-most in the league among players with 13 or fewer carries per game.
With 33 receptions for 264 yards last season, Murray is more of a three-down player than Peterson, whose swift and powerful running skills were suited better to the state of the NFL when he entered it in 2007. A decade later, picking up blitzes and catching passes are more critical than ever for running backs.
The Vikings hosted Murray at team headquarters Wednesday and struck the deal early Thursday, announcing it at 12:47 a.m. That's the exact same night-owl time the Vikings announced on Sept. 17, 2014, that Peterson was being placed on paid leave while the child-abuse case in which he was involved unfolded. Though Peterson led the league with 1,485 yards rushing in 2015, he was a nonfactor in 2014 and in 2016 while he recovered from a torn meniscus in his right knee.
Murray has five 100-yard games in his career, delayed by a foot injury he sustained as a rookie that kept him off the field for the 2013 season. Peterson has five 200-yard games and topped the 100-yard mark 50 times, but he'll be 32 next week.
The Vikings were last in the NFL in 2016 with 3.2 yards per rush and 75.3 yards rushing per game, but they have other needs, too. They re-signed veteran cornerback Terence Newman on Wednesday and also reached an agreement on a three-year contract extension with wide receiver Adam Thielen worth as much as $27 million, including $11 million guaranteed.