NEW ORLEANS -- Vikings running back Adrian Peterson will be entering the final season of his rookie contract whenever the NFL's lockout ends.

Peterson has established himself as one of the NFL's elite running backs since entering the league in 2007 and he likely is going to want a new deal before he steps back on the field. But if Peterson is feeling pressure to get a new contract he wasn't saying it during an interview with an ESPN freelance writer while on a charity mission in Africa.

"I'm watching the way different organizations act and watching the way my organization acts," Peterson said. "I'm not worried about a contract. I've played hard and I think I've done pretty good. I thought maybe -- after a few years of doing good -- there'd be deal by now. But whatever. That's OK. I'm not desperately concerned about a contract."

Peterson is due to make $10.7 million in base salary in 2007 and the Vikings are likely to going to want to get that figure renegotiated if a salary cap returns under the new collective bargaining agreement.

Coach Leslie Frazier expressed confidence the Vikings will keep Peterson.

"You'd like to get him under contract, and I'm sure and I know we're going to make every effort to get that done," Frazier said. "He is in every sense of the word a franchise back and, in my mind, the best back in the National Football League today. So, we want him to retire a Minnesota Viking and our organization wants that to happen and we're going to put our best foot forward when the time comes."