Peterson traded to Cardinals for pick
Future Hall of Fame back lacked major role with Saints.
The Arizona Cardinals, with the worst rushing game in the NFL, acquired running back Adrian Peterson from the New Orleans Saints on Tuesday in exchange for an undisclosed 2018 draft pick.
The 32-year-old Peterson has rushed for 11,828 yards and 97 touchdowns in his 10-plus pro seasons. The four-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowl selection signed a two-year contract with the Saints during the offseason after spending his first 10 NFL seasons with the Minnesota Vikings.
“We are always on the lookout for opportunities to improve our team and we look at this as one of those opportunities,” Cardinals general manager Steve Keim said in a release. “What Adrian has accomplished in this league is well-established.”
Peterson has played sparingly with little success for New Orleans. He’s gained 81 yards in 27 carries, an average of 3 yards per attempt with a long run of 11.
With an offensive line that wasn’t all that strong to begin with now riddled by injuries, the Cardinals (2-3) are averaging a league-worst 51.8 yards per game and 2.6 yards per carry.
To make room for Peterson, Arizona released running back Chris Johnson.
Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who grew up in Minnesota and still has a home there, is a good friend of Peterson. Fitzgerald sent out a tweet with an animated photo of a boy dancing happily under the heading “My mood this morning.”
The Cardinals undoubtedly are under no illusions that Peterson is the running back he was in his prime. But Keim figures he’s an improvement over what they had before.
Arizona lost one of the game’s best backs, David Johnson, in the season opener. Johnson, a first-team All-Pro at the flex position and second-team at running back last season, is out for at least another month while recovering from surgery to repair a fractured wrist.
The other running backs on the team are Andre Ellington, Kerwynn Williams and Elijhaa Penny.
Anthem: NFL owners will meet next week to consider changes to a game manual that says players “should” stand during the national anthem, a guideline the league has left to the discretion of players who knelt in large numbers after criticism from President Donald Trump.
Commissioner Roger Goodell told club executives Tuesday in a memo obtained by The Associated Press that the anthem issue is dividing the league from its fans. He said the NFL needs “to move past this controversy.”
NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart said the guidance will be “front and center on the agenda” when owners meet in New York next Tuesday and Wednesday.
Broncos: Coach Vance Joseph said rookie tight end Jake Butt will practice next week for the first time, triggering a 21-day window for the team to decide whether to activate him or officially turn his rookie season into a redshirt year.
Butt, who tore his right ACL in his final college game, will practice Monday alongside outside linebacker Shane Ray, who’s been out since the first week of training camp with a torn ligament in his left wrist, Joseph said.
Butt, who collected on an insurance policy for slipping down the draft, was the cautionary tale of this year’s draft after running backs Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey skipped their bowl games a year after Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith cost himself millions by blowing out his left knee in the Fiesta Bowl.
Butt has always insisted he has no regrets, however.
“I’ll never regret playing in a football game in my life,” Butt said on draft day.
49ers: Signed veteran cornerback Leon Hall, 32, who was originally a first-round pick by Cincinnati in 2007.
Late Monday
Vikings 20, (at) Bears 17: Mitchell Trubisky got rockstar treatment from Chicago’s fans. He displayed the skills that made him the No. 2 pick in the draft — and showed that he still has plenty of room to improve.
Trubisky wowed a thunderous crowd at times with his quickness and arm strength, only to throw a costly interception as the Bears (1-4) lost to Minnesota (3-2).
“It was fun,” he said. “It was Monday night football. The crowd was electric. I’ve got to thank them for coming out and being loud and really supporting us.”
Trubisky had just 13 starts at North Carolina in college, and the Bears wanted this to be sort of a redshirt season for their prized rookie.
“He’s got what it takes,” coach John Fox said. “There’s no doubt in my mind. For a first game, I go back to watching guys like ( Joe) Montana in their first game, so I’ve seen a few of them. I’m not making comparisons at this point, but he’s going to do nothing but get better.”
Facing an aggressive defense, he completed 12 of 25 passes for 128 yards with a touchdown. Though the numbers were far from spectacular, Trubisky provided some promising signs.
“He was calm, he was cool,” receiver Kendall Wright said.
Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford left the game early because of continued discomfort in his left knee. An MRI on Tuesday revealed no additional injury. Trainer Eric Sugarman said that Bradford does not have any ligament damage or bone bruising, just aggravation of the wear and tear in the joint that has hampered him for the past four weeks.