Continued: Vikings hope Peterson's extra pounds won't slow him down

INDIANAPOLIS — Rick Spielman said it's not the Vikings' idea for running back Adrian Peterson to add seven to 12 pounds to his 6-1, 218-pound fame, but the team's vice president of player personnel was cautious when asked about the subject.

"Adrian's trying to be the best football player he can be, and I know there's a lot of still untapped potential in how much better he can get," Spielman said Thursday while talking to reporters at the NFL scouting combine. "I know the coaches and Tom Kanavy, our strength coach, and [coach] Brad [Childress], they will all monitor that to see if that's affecting him. But Adrian works extremely hard at his craft to be the best he can be. That's something that will be discussed internally."

Peterson, the NFL's leading rusher in 2008 with 1,760 yards, talked about his desire to bulk up without losing speed at this month's Pro Bowl. He explained the additional weight will help him endure the long season and make him "more explosive."

"Adrian is very lean, very lean, muscular ... maybe 5 percent body fat," Spielman said. "Whether [adding weight] helps him taking the shots that he takes ... I'm sure if he came back at 270 pounds, there would be some concern. But he's such an explosive athlete, and if you're able to add more muscle mass to what he has, it could be more of a benefit. I know Adrian is smart enough to know what weight he would want to put on before it would affect his speed and quickness. You wouldn't want that weight to affect how he is or what type of player he is."

Just like last year when they sent a first- and two third-round picks to Kansas City for Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen, there has been some thought the Vikings might consider trading another high draft pick to New England in an attempt to land quarterback Matt Cassel.

But Spielman, who praised Allen's performance, also cautioned against dealing high draft choices too often.

"You can't do that every year because if you continue to give away draft picks, you're going to weaken your team for future years," Spielman said. "I think we're at the point with our roster right now where we have our core team locked in. There's all the guys that are in the prime of their career are pretty much under contract for the next four or five years.

"Now, if you can focus on getting younger on the back end. Continue to bring guys up through so when those guys hit that age where their skills start to go down that you have guys in training right behind them that can step in and step in their place."

• Spielman elected not to answer when asked if the Vikings have any interest in Michael Vick, pointing out that Vick is under contract to the Falcons. Atlanta, of course, is shopping the rights to the incarcerated quarterback. Pressed a bit on the issue, Spielman said: "I just would say that we're very strong on our character and what type of people [we bring in]. You guys know how we've been about the type of players that we've brought in."