Saints reportedly nearing deal with Adrian Peterson

Reports are in that the New Orleans Saints and running back Adrian Peterson are closing in on a deal worth $3M in 2017.

Ian Rapoport gets a lot of New Orleans Saints news very wrong. If he reports one way, the obvious move is to believe the opposite. But when he has specific contract details about player transactions, he’s typically right on the money.

And he now has breaking news about Adrian Peterson.

As he says, the deal is not done. But both sides have long been reported to have mutual interest. If something as specific as $3M has leaked, I’d say there’s a good chance that’s the final number.

For a player of Adrian Peterson’s talents, that number is a steal. Before the Vikings released him this offseason, he was slated to make $18M in 2017. 18 million dollars. That’s a lot for a running back. And while it remains to be seen if AD still has that same “All-Day” gamebreaking abilities, $3M for a year of that potential ability is great value for the Saints.

In that vein, expect the contract to have some serious incentives.

Rapoport’s tweet makes it sound as if the contract is set to be a one-year deal. For a 32-year-old running back, it’s a bit surprising to think that Peterson may have pursued such a deal. But all signs indicate that Peterson still very much believes in his ability to dominate in this league, and that he’ll use this contract with the Saints as a prove-it deal of sorts after a 2016 season cut short by injury.