FEELING BIG BLUE
AP wants color change if Vikings cut costs
The Giants’ struggling ground game could be a thing of the past.
Former league MVP Adrian Peterson said Thursday that if the Vikings were to release him before next season because of his massive contract, the Giants are one of three teams the star running back would be interested in joining.
Peterson, who turns 32 years old in March, also mentioned the Texans and Buccaneers as teams he would consider if he becomes a free agent.
“There’s a couple teams out there that I’ve thought about. … New York was one of them that popped up, Tampa Bay, lot of different teams. Houston would be a good spot,” Peterson said on ESPN. “I’ll stop right there. … I’m just throwing random names out there.”
The seven-time Pro Bowler would make nearly $18 million if he plays for the Vikings next season, with $6 million owed to Peterson if he is on the roster on the third day of the league year, which begins March 9.
“But if it doesn’t happen, [I would want] a place where me and my family are comfortable, [and] just the opportunity to compete for a championship. That’s my main goal that I want to accomplish,” Peterson said. “I definitely have five more strong years, without a doubt.”
The Giants ranked 29th in the league in rushing yards with a backfield led by veteran Rashad Jennings.
Rookie Paul Perkins emerged at the end of the year, and is the likely favorite to be the team’s starter to open the 2017 season.
Peterson said he hopes to remain with Minnesota, which drafted him with the seventh overall pick in 2007.
“I see myself in purple. A lot has to take place,” Peterson said on “First Take.”
“I see myself finishing off in purple. It is a business at the end of the day, so with that, things could end up differently. … Hopefully we can work things out.”
Peterson has averaged 4.9 yards per carry for his career, and ranks 16th all-time with 11,747 rushing yards.
He played only three games t his season due to a torn meniscus, but last year he topped the league in carries (327), yards rushing (1,485) and rushing touchdowns (11) f or a Vikings team t hat captured the NFC North.
It was the third time in his career Peterson paced the NFL in rushing yards.
Peterson missed nearly the entire 2014 season due to child abuse charges, which involved him repeatedly hitting his 4-year-old son with a tree branch (or “switch”) and leaving cuts and bruises on the boy’s legs and scrotum.
Peterson, who defended it as discipline by corporal punishment, pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of reckless assault, paid a $4,000 fine and agreed to perform 80 hours of community service. He missed 15 games and lost $4.2 million in salary.