NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said during last month's league owners meetings that he planned to meet with Adrian Peterson before the Vikings running back was up for reinstatement from the commissioner's exempt list. That meeting will take place Tuesday, according to a source close to the situation.
Peterson remains eligible for reinstatement on April 15, Goodell said at the owners meetings. If any kind of agreement is secured Tuesday, Peterson could soon be cleared for a return to the Vikings for the first time since September, though it is unclear if the disgruntled running back intends to report if reinstated.
In November, Peterson was suspended by the NFL after he pleaded no contest in the child-abuse case involving his young son and was told he would be eligible for reinstatement April 15.
Peterson's appeal was denied by a league-appointed arbitrator. But in February, a federal judge ruled that the decision must be voided and sent back through the arbitration process. At that point, the league moved Peterson from the suspended list back to the exempt list.
Among the terms Goodell set for Peterson's reinstatement back in November were that he needed to avoid further legal trouble and also meet with a league-assigned psychiatrist to design a counseling and therapy program. Peterson has had no further legal issues, but it is unclear whether his efforts to meet the latter will be satisfactory to Goodell.
While Peterson's agent, Ben Dogra, has said the running back would be better off playing elsewhere, the Vikings expect Peterson to be a member of the team in 2015 if he is reinstated.
The offseason workout program begins in 13 days, but the majority of it is voluntary. The team's mandatory minicamp in June would be the first time Peterson is contractually obligated to show up at Winter Park.
Matt Vensel • 612-673-7966
