BRIAN PETERSON ( brian.peterson@startribune.com)Adrian Peterson's season took another sharp turn Tuesday when the former Viking was traded from the New Orleans Saints to the Arizona Cardinals, sources told ESPN.com. NFL.com added that the Cardinals are sending back a conditional late-round pick to get Peterson.

The Cardinals lost standout back David Johnson in Week 1 after he fractured his wrist and it has been a struggle for them since. Meanwhile, Peterson had managed a meager 27 carries for 81 yards in New Orleans.

He'd signed a two-year contract with New Orleans, with hopes of starting anew after a decade with the Vikings ended last season with 37 carries for 72 yards following an early-season knee surgery.

His first game as a Saint was against the Vikings and he finished with six carries for 18 yards. Television cameras captured him scowling at Saints coach Sean Payton, although Peterson insisted then that there was no animosity between them in that moment.

He later conceded that things weren't going as planned in a running back-by-committee with rookie Alvin Kamara and veteran Mark Ingram.

"I didn't sign up for nine snaps, though. But unfortunately that's the way the game played out," Peterson said the week after the Vikings game.

Star Tribune, Star Tribune

Peterson, 32, is now trying to make the most of the final years of his career. He'd become a one-dimensional back in Minnesota and a plan to replace him was set in place with the free agency signing of Latavius Murray, followed by the Vikings drafting Dalvin Cook.

Cook is out for the year with a torn ACL and there was some speculation that the Vikings might consider reaching back for Peterson, but that scenario was unlikely from the very beginning.

The trade did come — however, it is to a roster that is not foreign to veteran talent. Receiver Larry Fitzgerald is 34 years old. Quarterback Carson Palmer is 37, and running back Chris Johnson is 32.

Now they add a future Hall of Famer in Peterson, who has 11,828 career rushing yards.